Microsoft Apologizes For Inserting Naughty Phrase Into Linux Kernel

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Microsoft Apologizes For Inserting Naughty Phrase Into Linux Kernel

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 19, 2012 @07:32AM from the brogrammers-at-work dept.

netbuzz writes "Microsoft has apologized and promised to rectify the fact that one of its developers slipped a sexist phrase into Linux kernel code supporting Microsoft's HyperV virtualization environment. In that code, the magic constant passed through to the hypervisor reads '0xB16B00B5,' or a slightly camouflaged 'BIG BOOBS.' After Linux developer/blogger Matthew Garrett criticized Microsoft for the stunt, the predictable debate over sexism in the technology world ensued. Microsoft issued a statement to Network World apologizing and added, 'We have submitted a patch to fix this issue and the change will be published in a future release of the kernel.'"

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0xB16B00B5 by Jobless+Fellatio · 2012-07-19 07:32 · Score: 5, Funny

Excuse me but could someone clarify how is "big boobs" sexist phrase? It might mean either gender. For statistical reasons I can verify that my own boobs are often larger than I see on females.
1. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'm sorry, but I can't take you serious on this subject because of your nickname.
2. Re:0xB16B00B5 by nedlohs · 2012-07-19 07:38 · Score: 1, Flamebait
  
  Because the rest of the world understands what it is referring to, you can remain deluded if you wish.
3. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Win0ver · 2012-07-19 07:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Yes, it refers to big female breasts ; how is that sexist? If it somehow read 'BIG BICEPS' would anyone care?
4. Re:0xB16B00B5 by jythie · 2012-07-19 07:43 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yeah, but I doubt anyone is under the dilution that the person who slipped it in ment male or gender neutral breasts. Technicalities and what-ifs do not change what the person likely intended and the way it is read by, well, pretty much everyone.
5. Re:0xB16B00B5 by jellomizer · 2012-07-19 07:45 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  For statistical reasons woman boobs are bigger then mens.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
6. Re:0xB16B00B5 by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-07-19 07:46 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  As for the way it is read, it immediately led me to the assumption that MS has a code monkey in the shop who still giggles at the words he can show by holding his calculator upside-down...
7. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  If it somehow read 'BIG BICEPS' would anyone care?
  Bug reporters, I hope...
8. Re:0xB16B00B5 by P-niiice · 2012-07-19 07:50 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Bad analogy. BIG FAT COCK would be a better one. Saying wither will get you disciplined/fired at work. I hope i'm explaining this to a child - any adult would know this.
9. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:54 · Score: 1
  
  RMS looks like he might be hiding a fabulous pair somewhere under that beard.
10. Re:0xB16B00B5 by jythie · 2012-07-19 07:56 · Score: 1
  
  *smirk* that is making for a fun image.
11. Re:0xB16B00B5 by karlandtanya · 2012-07-19 07:57 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Of course "boobs" is specific to women. The homologous structures in men are known as "moobs".
  There is no hex number that looks similar to "Moobs".
  From now on, all numbers must be represented as Unicode (it would not be politically correct to favor the character set used by any specific culture) where each 16-bit element specifies the text representation of the numerical value desired.
  Who do you blame when it costs $75.00 to fill your gas tank? 71077345
  
  --
  "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
12. Re:0xB16B00B5 by jythie · 2012-07-19 08:00 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I am not sure any analogy can really be drawn. The issue isn't the specific word, but the culture around it. There is no equivalent since males have such a strong presence in geek and tech culture... they have no frame of reference to understand from. The best they can do is say 'I don't understand, but I accept that this matters and will keep it in mind'. Trying to convey it via something they can understand simply won't work....
13. Re:0xB16B00B5 by kimvette · 2012-07-19 08:00 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  That would be B16M00B5 so it doesn't work in hexadecimal.
  
  --
  The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
14. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:02 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Yes: it's not sexist, it's just lewd. It's also an irrelevant distinction.
15. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:02 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  i doubt saying "big fat cock" would get you fired if you worked in a chicken factory. everything requires context.
16. Re:0xB16B00B5 by PraiseBob · 2012-07-19 08:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I think 0xB16BA115 would be the most appropriate analogy
17. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Blue+Stone · 2012-07-19 08:09 · Score: 2
  
  Even if you work at a poultry farm and you're describing an over-sized obese male chicken?
  
  --
  Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
18. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Mike+Buddha · 2012-07-19 08:12 · Score: 1
  
  How would you spell BIG FAT COCK in hex?
  
  --
  by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
19. Re:0xB16B00B5 by SolitaryMan · 2012-07-19 08:12 · Score: 1
  
  Bad analogy. BIG FAT COCK would be a better one. Saying wither will get you disciplined/fired at work.
  As well as saying "Fuck you" to your boss, regardless of his/her gender. There are many ways to get yourself disciplined/fired. It does not prove that some particular way is sexist.
  
  --
  May Peace Prevail On Earth
20. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Idaho · 2012-07-19 08:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Next up: vegetarians against using 0xdeadbeef to detect memory corruption? Well, Fuck me gently with a chainsaw!
  
  --
  Every expression is true, for a given value of 'true'
21. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GameboyRMH · 2012-07-19 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  What's so bad about a big fat cock? I can understand how it might be inappropriate to present one in an office environment, but is it so bad to describe or even show a picture of a big fat cock?
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
22. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Archangel+Michael · 2012-07-19 08:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Some are held for charity ...
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
23. Re:0xB16B00B5 by j00r0m4nc3r · 2012-07-19 08:19 · Score: 2
  
  I propose we start migrating computers to a dodecadecimal numbering system, which would allow for such comedy.
24. Re:0xB16B00B5 by scubamage · 2012-07-19 08:22 · Score: 1
  
  Blue footed boobies disagree with your statement.
25. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Scarletdown · 2012-07-19 08:24 · Score: 2
  
  Yes, it refers to big female breasts ; how is that sexist?
  If it somehow read 'BIG BICEPS' would anyone care?
  It could have also meant that the programmer's employers are a bunch of doofuses, aka nothing but a bunch of big boobs.
  
  --
  This space unintentionally left blank.
26. Re:0xB16B00B5 by goeken · 2012-07-19 08:25 · Score: 1
  
  OK, I admit I giggled at that image.
27. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cpu6502 · 2012-07-19 08:28 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I've always preferred 0x5MA11B00B5 myself.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
28. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:31 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  LOL, hy-perv
29. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Sebastopol · 2012-07-19 08:32 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  This is a common question when talking about privilege: if group X is offended by statement A about X, and group Y is NOT offended by the same statement A aimed Y, then X should STFU.
  First, you're trying to tell someone how to feel. Examine how well you personally respond to being told how to feel because you're too stupid to understand something others consider obvious.
  Second, this logical comparison only works when neither group is routinely marginalized and demeaned by a pervasive institutional bias.
  
  --
  https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
30. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Just+Some+Guy · 2012-07-19 08:32 · Score: 2
  
  Neckbeard Hacker would like a word with you.
  
  --
  Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
31. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Chrisq · 2012-07-19 08:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  i doubt saying "big fat cock" would get you fired if you worked in a chicken factory. everything requires context.
  And in the porn industry it might be compulsory
32. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:37 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  that M is however very hard to squeese into a hex number like that :-)
33. Re:0xB16B00B5 by drinkypoo · 2012-07-19 08:38 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Yeah, but I doubt anyone is under the dilution
  If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
34. Re:0xB16B00B5 by EdIII · 2012-07-19 08:38 · Score: 2
  
  In my case it would be x127.0.0.1 :)
35. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Sebastopol · 2012-07-19 08:39 · Score: 1
  
  Very subjective, just like the qualifier "tall".
  However, let's do some analysis to see how to tease out if it is sexist...
  How do you know if something is "tall"?
  You compare it to a bunch of other things and if it has more height than most of the samples, it earns the qualifier "tall".
  Now, take the phrase in question. Read it to a bunch of people, and compare how many people think if it refers to men to how many think if it refers to women.
  If your results come back 50/50 when normalized for gender, it probably isn't sexist.
  But, as a pragmatic person in America (assuming that you're american), do you really expect a large number of people will conjure up MAN or WOMAN with even probability?
  There ya go.
  
  --
  https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
36. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Jeremiah+Cornelius · 2012-07-19 08:40 · Score: 2
  
  Or GTFO.
  
  --
  "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
  Never been known to fail..."
37. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:40 · Score: 1
  
  I've always preferred 0x5MA11B00B5 myself.
  Unfortunatelly this requires 64-bit kernel. The other version somehow fits in a 32-bit space O.O
38. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:43 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I've always preferred 0x5MA11B00B5 myself.
  What base are you using?
39. Re:0xB16B00B5 by crakbone · 2012-07-19 08:43 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  What is sexist is not one of the people here thought the coder might have been bragging. Not one person even thought the coder could be a woman. It was just instantly a guy being sexist.
40. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:44 · Score: 1
  
  In case you're not a native English speaker, "dilution" is watering down something, the word you probably mean is "delusion."
41. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:51 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Fucking hell... Microsoft deserves a lot of shit for their behaviour... just not over this. This is just a bit of silliness on behalf of a developer.
  It's not worth a second look by anyone with an actual life, or something useful to do.
42. Re:0xB16B00B5 by aaaaaaargh! · 2012-07-19 08:52 · Score: 1
  
  I think that anyone who complains that hiding the constant 0xB16B00B5 somewhere deep in the Linux kernel is sexist is retarded. Go parse that sentence!
43. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Applekid · 2012-07-19 08:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe it's in base 36
  
  --
  More Twoson than Cupertino
44. Re:0xB16B00B5 by aaaaaaargh! · 2012-07-19 08:55 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  So the phrase "Sorry, I have my period" is sexist?
  I knew it, I knew it!
45. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Win0ver · 2012-07-19 09:00 · Score: 1
  
  I never said it was a mature thing to do ; I'm saying it isn't sexist. I can't be bothered to quote wikipedia or a dictionary for a definition of the word 'sexist'.
46. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 09:07 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortable. As such, it contributes to the feeling that Linux kernel development is an area in which women aren't welcome... And believe it or not, sort of thing is the reason why there are so few female programmers. Our "tiny female brains" can cope with the actual work *just fine*. :)
47. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Obfuscant · 2012-07-19 09:08 · Score: 2
  
  Saying wither will get you disciplined/fired at work.
  Really?
  In this part of the country we have the Susan G Kamen outfit that has something to do with breast cancer research. Every year, the women's gymnastics team has a "pink out" night where they hand out pink tee shirts and highlight the issue of women's breast cancer.
  Some of the things they hand out have the phrase "I (heart) Boobies." This is on a campus that is a bastion of modern social thought, including "inclusion" and "diversity" and making the entire place a comfortable place for everyone at all times. In other words, political correctness run amok.
  It seems like the word "boobies" passes the political correctness test. That includes perhaps two dozen college aged frat boys in the stands with a large banner that has the word, with seven of them painting one letter each on their bare chests, displayed to four gymnastic teams made up of women. Perhaps the issue you see is with the word "BIG"?
48. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Khyber · 2012-07-19 09:11 · Score: 1
  
  I do part-time work in the porn industry. I can confirm that this is required to be said, from the porn shops to the porn sets.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
49. Re:0xB16B00B5 by tnk1 · 2012-07-19 09:11 · Score: 1
  
  Just because they are the subject of the humor doesn't mean that they can't be overreacting. And people outside of the situation are perfectly able to feel empathy for those in that situation. Additionally, being emotionally invested in an issue does not necessarily give you a better perspective, despite your closeness to the issue. That's why we don't put family members and witnesses on juries.
  In short, while you should assign value to the statements of those who might be in the situation, telling everyone else to shut the fuck up is equally wrong.
50. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kjella · 2012-07-19 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  Like MS would be the only one... I remember a colleague of mine talking about a takeover they did at a former employer of a company, the code was mostly written by the two founders and they weren't exactly young either. They were actually warned in advanced that the code base they were taking over could be a bit juvenile, of course after the agreement was signed. The biggest gem they found was probably the card initialization. The debug message? "The first time always hurts..." and the sleazy sexual innuendo kept coming. Some people just don't ever grow up, they'd still snicker at that in the retirement home...
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
51. Re:0xB16B00B5 by vux984 · 2012-07-19 09:14 · Score: 2
  
  But B16BA115 does.
  And you'd need them to use that as a magic constant in linux kernel code. :)
52. Re:0xB16B00B5 by mydn · 2012-07-19 09:14 · Score: 2
  
  Those are not real B00B5, either.
53. Re:0xB16B00B5 by mydn · 2012-07-19 09:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  This is what you get when you have teenagers in their parents basement writing your operating system. You would get more professional behavior from a large, established corporation.
  Oh, wait...
54. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2012-07-19 09:20 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I eat vegan and 0xDEADBEEF is my favorite constant,
  
  --
  
  ---
  ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
55. Re:0xB16B00B5 by crakbone · 2012-07-19 09:23 · Score: 1
  
  No I automatically think your comment is racist because 95% percent of anonymous coward comments are racist. Based on all the made up surveys I studied on anonymous cowards.
56. Re:0xB16B00B5 by acid_andy · 2012-07-19 09:24 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Or GTFO.
  Or vagina.
  This looks like another 'PR Nightmare for Microsoft'.
  Apparently they've just made their first ever quarterly loss this year also. Oh and something called "Windows 8" is coming out. It's all downhill from here, I guess.
  
  --
  Your ad here.
57. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Rakarra · 2012-07-19 09:26 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I eat vegan and 0xDEADBEEF is my favorite constant,
  I always wondered. Does eating vegan really give you superpowers?
58. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Sebastopol · 2012-07-19 09:26 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  "Just because they are the subject of the humor doesn't mean that they can't be overreacting"
  And you're going to decide for them that they are overreacting? Again, it is mighty arrogant for someone to decide if someone else's feelings are valid or not.
  "telling everyone else to shut the fuck up is equally wrong."
  Did I tell anyone to STFU? Nope. I was using that as an example of what i've read in this thread directed at people who were offended. OP can say whatever he or she wants to, I'm pointing out what the words/actions are doing,
  
  --
  https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
59. Re:0xB16B00B5 by UnknownSoldier · 2012-07-19 09:27 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Ironically, Sony uses 0xD15EA5ED (diseased) for its guard bytes for memory corrupt.
  There is a fun list at: Magic Debug Values
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_debug_values#Magic_debug_values
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_byte
  Us geeks laugh, and move on.
  It is only an issue for those that have nothing better to do.
60. Re:0xB16B00B5 by camperslo · 2012-07-19 09:27 · Score: 1
  
  Excuse me but could someone clarify how is "big boobs" sexist phrase? It might mean either gender.
  Ahhh, I see... they were talking about Steve Ballmer.
  Now to get that image of him in sweaty wet shirt out of my head.
  Speaking of head, there was the time the MS marketing guys cut a black mans' head off and pasted on a white one.
  http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/25/microsoft-sucks-at-photoshop/
61. Re:0xB16B00B5 by UnknownSoldier · 2012-07-19 09:28 · Score: 1
  
  I prefer 0xDEADC0DE :-)
  Apple seems to use:
  0x8BADF00D
62. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:31 · Score: 1
  
  The quarterly loss is a paper loss from a bad acquisition; it doesn't compound.
  I think calling this a PR nightmare is really, really overselling it. It's like a PR hiccup at worst. A much bigger PR nightmare is the recent browser choice fuck-up.
63. Re:0xB16B00B5 by PylonHead · 2012-07-19 09:32 · Score: 2
  
  The world is unfair in so many ways. I suppose it's not surprising that people forget that we can strive to make it better.
  
  --
  # (/.);;
  - : float -> float -> float =
64. Re:0xB16B00B5 by meerling · 2012-07-19 09:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe, but they're both running on silicon.
65. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:36 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Or maybe you are being overly sensitive.
  This is at worst childish, not sexist.
  Anyone who sees it as sexist is trolling for attention or is trying to make herself feel special.
  Your own feelings about linux kernel development have very little significance toward linux development.
  You are here LOOKING for sexism.
  You are seeing the world through sexism-coloured glasses.
  It's ridiculous.
  Stop.
66. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cpu6502 · 2012-07-19 09:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I took technical writing in college, and we had a female professor teaching the class: Dana Witmer. One of my lab partners got the bright idea to name the technical file "dirtydana" which I have to admit was funny, but I stopped laughing when they told me they *handed it in* with that name.
  About a week later the professor met with all the students and commented that our filename was "interesting" and then started giggling. Not all women are uptight over trivial stuff.
  As for WHY women don't like engineering/programming, I think it's because they are smart. They are smart enough not to go into such a boring field where the managers or HR treat you like low-level employees to be shoved into basement offices & worked 50 hours w/o overtime pay.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
67. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Rockoon · 2012-07-19 09:38 · Score: 1
  
  This is a common question when talking about privilege: if group X is offended by statement A about X, and group Y is NOT offended by the same statement A aimed Y, then X should STFU.
  
  First, you're trying to tell someone how to feel.
  Wait.. what?
  
  STFU != THISISHOWYOUSHOUILDFEEL
  
  How about this? If you are offended.. take a week of your overly sensitive life to think about what being offended actually is. Its you. Nobody made you be offended. You did that all by yourself.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
68. Re:0xB16B00B5 by kheldan · 2012-07-19 09:46 · Score: 1
  
  0xDEADBEEF
  Get PETA all over your shit for it.
  
  --
  Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
69. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cmdrbuzz · 2012-07-19 09:47 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  No, but eating vegan's might :-)
70. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 09:50 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I'm sorry to say this, but this is another bit of typical patriarchy talk -- if a woman feels uncomfortable with something men are doing, she's automatically "uptight" or "frigid." Sorry, but no. Professionalism dictates keeping this sort of thing out of the workplace. Sure, some women may be able to laugh it off for the sake of appearing to be a "team player" and putting the men on the team at ease, but honestly I can't imagine very many of us are actually truly completely comfortable with the idea of people we aren't reasonably intimate with commenting on our chests. I don't disagree that this can often be an exceedingly boring field to work in. At the same time, it's a reasonably well paying one, and a basement office can still be brightened up considerably with a few plants and tasteful paintings. As long as you don't have an officemate who's constantly showering you with unsolicited innuendo.
71. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Lehk228 · 2012-07-19 09:55 · Score: 1
  
  are you some kind of 9ED0?
  
  --
  Snowden and Manning are heroes.
72. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:56 · Score: 1
  
  Right, because adult women are all obviously (1) straight (2) insecure about our chests and (3) married to men with "real jobs" who take care of all our "real" needs.
  
  No-one mentioned sexual orientation or marital status. Sure, the parent was/is a sexist ass, but you only diminish your own credibility by trying to make them seem an even bigger ass than they actually are.
73. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:56 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  And yet your (and possibly other's) "tiny female brain" can't cope with this utterly insignificant and arguably inconsequential action which is bordering on a joke and blow this out of all proportions creating a fuss that is unworthy of anyone's time.
  If the tables were reversed and a female programmer declared a function called insanely_large_dick() do you think any males would throw up their hands in the air and quit their jobs in IT because they felt threatened and/or harassed? There's nothing worse than having a super sensitive demographic (and I'm not just referring to females here) and having everyone else tip-toeing around them so as not to possibly offend them in any way shape or form. Grow some balls, get on with life and stop being offended by everything.
74. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Luckyo · 2012-07-19 10:09 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Big enough to handle it apparently.
75. Re:0xB16B00B5 by digitalchinky · 2012-07-19 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  Speaking of the word fuck, isn't that scattered throughout the kernel in places?
76. Re:0xB16B00B5 by bitt3n · 2012-07-19 10:14 · Score: 2
  
  It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortable. As such, it contributes to the feeling that Linux kernel development is an area in which women aren't welcome... And believe it or not, sort of thing is the reason why there are so few female programmers. Our "tiny female brains" can cope with the actual work *just fine*. :)
  
  How do you know that that sort of thing is 'the' reason? Presumably there are a host of reasons, such as the fact women might rarely be encouraged to consider comp sci as a career in the first place, the fact that the scarcity of women in the field serves in itself as a deterrent, and the fact that the hours can be long and inflexible. Among these reasons, instances such as the one in question could prove to be of greater or lesser importance. Given the complexity of the issue, it seems difficult to determine how much of a reason it is, but surely it is not the reason.
  Furthermore, wagging your finger at all of us knuckle-dragging neanderthals who might be disinclined to believe your proposition, and quoting our supposed belief that female brains are tiny (a quotation not in the OP's post) do little more than trivialize the issue at hand. Rather than engaging in much the same bigotry that you purport to condemn, you might consider taking the problem more seriously.
  
  --
  how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
77. Re:0xB16B00B5 by petsounds · 2012-07-19 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  She's probably writing code to save up for her own boob job.
  Okay mate, I think you need to go back to the basement for a timeout. Your misogynistic and ignorant comment certainly gives credence to her point-of-view.
78. Re:0xB16B00B5 by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 10:16 · Score: 1
  
  Leetspeek kiddies may see patterns in hex constants but people who have actual paying jobs
  generally don't.
  Really, because I use 0xdeadbeef as a magic constant all the time. In my paying job where I write code for a living. You know, professionally, for money in business, etc, etc.
  Sometimes I've put swearwords in the comments, when I'm annoyed. But it's not unusual for people to swear when they're annoyed.
  I've never sat at my keyboard haking and thought "haha boobs" I know I'll make a file called bigboobs.txt or whatever. To be honest, if I saw a file named along the lines of
  fucking-shit-stupid-piece-of-shit-crap-shit-bollocks-ass.txt
  I'd probably have sympathy with the poor person who was probably frustrated at trying to debug something nasty. And only be mildly annoyed that it forced ls to use fr fewer columns than would be ideal. If I saw a file
  big-boobs.txt
  in the repository, I'd think the guy (It's always a guy, frankly) who checked it in is a bit weird and kinda creepy.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
79. Re:0xB16B00B5 by tnk1 · 2012-07-19 10:18 · Score: 1
  
  And you're going to decide for them that they are overreacting? Again, it is mighty arrogant for someone to decide if someone else's feelings are valid or not.
  I'm not sure how expressing an opinion decides anything for anyone. If I want to tell someone to STFU, that doesn't mean that I can make them. And arrogance, whether or not it exists, does not affect the truth value of a proposition and so is entirely irrelevant to the discussion. If the action you are suggesting can actually force any one into anything, they are so weak-willed that someone indirectly telling them to shut up is probably the least of their issues.
80. Re:0xB16B00B5 by alexo · 2012-07-19 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  What is sexist is not one of the people here thought the coder might have been bragging. Not one person even thought the coder could be a woman. It was just instantly a guy being sexist.
  I am yet to see a female kernel developer bragging about the size of her breasts, not to mention slipping such references into code.
81. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arthurpaliden · 2012-07-19 10:23 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Had a Japanese VP who was in charge of industrial software design at a very famous company tell me, while in a meeting with myself and my staff, that women did not have the brains to be programmers. I was very proud that the two lead programmers did not jump up an beat the crap out of him right there and then. He thought they were secretaries taking minutes of the meeting.
  
  --
  Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
82. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Johann+Lau · 2012-07-19 10:23 · Score: 1
  
  http://rarlindseysmash.com/index.php?n=1340550476
83. Re:0xB16B00B5 by philip.paradis · 2012-07-19 10:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I think that needs to be nominated for /. comment of the year.
  
  --
  Write failed: Broken pipe
84. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 10:31 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  My favourite thing about your comments is you always post them with this font style so they're more easily noticed even though they rarely have anything insightful in them.
85. Re:0xB16B00B5 by garett_spencley · 2012-07-19 10:33 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  "but honestly I can't imagine very many of us are actually truly completely comfortable with the idea of people we aren't reasonably intimate with commenting on our chests."
  No one has said anything about commenting on the size of a specific individual's chest. If it were personal I could understand how it would make someone feel uncomfortable, but I still wouldn't consider it "sexist" because it would also make me feel uncomfortable if someone were to comment on the size of my nose or my waist line.
  "Professionalism dictates keeping this sort of thing out of the workplace."
  I disagree with that profoundly. The most productive professional environment is one in which everyone gets along, has a good time and enjoys what they're doing. If certain individuals feel uncomfortable it is either because they are being singled out or bullied unfairly (in which case there is something wrong with the environment) or they have a personal problem with the way the business is run (which does not necessarily mean there's something wrong with the individual, just that it's not a good fit).
  Femminism is supposed to be about equality and social change, right ? Then here's a social "problem" I would like the change: the complete double-standard backwardness that has been instituted in the name of "feminism." For example: if a guy expresses his sexuality or his sexual nature in any way he is labeled a "pig" but if a woman does it it's applauded as "liberating."
  I was raised by a single mom with a tremendous amount of support from her single mom. Both describe themselves as "feminists." Both also talk about "patriarchy" but as a male who was born after 1980 I gotta say ... I don't see it. In fact, I see the trend going in the opposite direction.
  The people who I find to be most "sexist" are self-proclaimed "feminists." They constantly draw attention to the differences between the sexes, and by appropriating a title such as "feminism" (emphasis on the root "fem") they are taking a position that there is an inherent conflict between the two sexes, that sides must be chosen and they have chosen the side of women. The foundation of the philosophy is not unifying but polarizing. If they had any pretense of "equality" they would identify themselves as "egalitarian." If they had a pretense about equal rights under the law whilst respecting (or celebrating) natural differences that exist between all individuals they would identify themselves as individualist. Instead they keep dragging the issue of gender through the mud and make everyone, male and female alike, uncomfortable.
86. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arth1 · 2012-07-19 10:34 · Score: 1
  
  But, as a pragmatic person in America (assuming that you're american), do you really expect a large number of people will conjure up MAN or WOMAN with even probability?
  Taking into consideration that this is Microsoft, the first image that came to my mind was Ballmer. His set is rather noticeable.
87. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Johann+Lau · 2012-07-19 10:35 · Score: 1
  
  How is that condescending? How is that anything but the obvious truth?
88. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Johann+Lau · 2012-07-19 10:36 · Score: 1
  
  No, it's just that you don't understand it.
  You'd have to understand it to see that.
  Cheers and good riddance.
89. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 10:39 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  > I use 0xdeadbeef as a magic constant
  Have you considered how offensive that can be to vegans?
90. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Hatta · 2012-07-19 10:41 · Score: 2
  
  They are smart enough not to go into such a boring field where the managers or HR treat you like low-level employees to be shoved into basement offices & worked 50 hours w/o overtime pay.
  So they go into nursing or teaching instead.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
91. Re:0xB16B00B5 by exomondo · 2012-07-19 10:51 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortable.
  
  Bullshit, what's sexist here is that you immediately assume it was a male who wrote it. Oh shit let's get all PC and outlaw codes like 0xDEADBEEF for fear of offending vegans...under the assumption that only non-vegans would ever use such a thing.
92. Re:0xB16B00B5 by makomk · 2012-07-19 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  That breast cancer campaign is actually really controversial amongst feminist circles, and there are definitely women out there who aren't comfortable with it, but it's kinda hard to stop the juggernaut at this point.
93. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Zaelath · 2012-07-19 11:01 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I prescribe a teaspoon of cement and harden the fuck up.
  If an octal gag is enough to keep brilliant women out of engineering, then it's probably a good thing. They couldn't cope with the stress.
94. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arth1 · 2012-07-19 11:03 · Score: 2
  
  If you really want to shock, try 0xCACABABE (also known as tubgirl) or 0xDEFEC8
95. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-19 11:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  See, that's my problem. Your right to work in the computer industry is exactly equivalent to my write to say and write whatever the fuck I want.
  I don't believe in equality, not gender equality, not race equality, nor any other kind of equality. I believe in something EVEN better: Individuality. Anyone can do whatever the fuck they want, as long as you don't step on anybody's rights. How about that? Implementing laws to make sure that everybody is equal is killing individuality, and I'm totally against that. You think that in order to get your right to work, I must forfeit my right to free speech?
  If you are so sensitive that you can't handle a little comment on your source code, then you are not really as prepared for the job (or life) as you think you are.
  If you really want to be equal, you shouldn't start by asking for special privileges. If you might feel "uncomfortable" because of something perfectly natural, then you are not fitted to work with a bunch of people. You can't be equal.
  I definitely want more female coders, and more females in the workplace. But I don't want fragile stereotypes who can't handle reality.
  I want mature and strong woman who are not scared away by a stupid sexual reference in a piece of code.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
96. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Splab · 2012-07-19 11:08 · Score: 1
  
  Really?
  Some of the dirtiest and most foul mouthed people I've ever worked with was women. And tell you what, I fucking loved it; it was always fun at the lunch table when one of their husbands had screwed up over the weekend, being the only guy working the floor you found yourself center of attention pretty fast when your gender screwed up.
  If you can't handle the banter, you should probably find yourself a different working field - it's there for a reason, usually to let the grunts let out steam without hitting their mates over the head with a wrench; this applies across gender and fields.
97. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 11:09 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Right, because adult women are all obviously (1) straight (2) insecure about our chests
  No, not all of you are adult. Some of you have some growing up to do so you can accept that even 0x0BE5E 0x1E5B05 can take a joke for a joke.
98. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 11:10 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I don't really feel like this is an appropriate forum to get into an in-depth discussion of feminist philosophy. That being said, IMHO if female coworkers were routinely commenting on the size of your nose or your waist line, that would very definitely be unprofessional behavior on their part. And if a female programmer named her constants things like "TINY_DICK_LOSER," I'd count that as sexism. I'm not suggesting or supporting any sort of double standard -- I'm just suggesting that a professional environment involves placing a few boundaries on your behavior in order to make *sure* that, to use your words, "everyone gets along, has a good time and enjoys what they're doing." That might mean not making the overweight man overly self conscious about his weight, it might mean making a point of making *eye contact* with the lady with the well-endowed chest, it might mean refraining from mentioning that you spent your weekend picketing an abortion clinic, or that you spent your weekend campaigning for gay marriage. You don't make the assumption that your co-workers are all going to feel the same way as you on any potentially charged issue.
99. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-19 11:11 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  See, you are destroying your own arguments. You use the typical feminist speech, including the word "patriarchy" (which can't be missing from any feminist sentence), and yet you go own to explain how you aren't comfortable with people acting naturally around you, and how you need a special PC bubble in order to go to work.
  If you are so fragile, then you are validating the patriarch argument: Woman aren't strong enough to do a man's job. Go back to the fucking kitchen.
  Otherwise, suck it up and go to work like everyone else. Guess what? We don't feel comfortable all the fucking time. Work isn't always comfortable, or nice, or cozy, or equal, or fair. We deal with it, and if you want to be equal, so should you.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
100. Re:0xB16B00B5 by atomicxblue · 2012-07-19 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  It's really sad that anyone feels excluded from kernel hacking. If more women were involved in the programming arts, maybe we would have had something much nicer and more useful than that horrible kluge, Unity. (My personal feelings are that women are better at programming than men anyways because so much of it requires concrete thinking and less of the abstract!)
  
  Maybe we should make a concerted effort as a whole community to be more welcoming to women. If someone has an idea how to make Linux faster, more stable and more secure, they should be lauded for their efforts, not derided!
  
  The same problem is rampant in the gaming world. Many years ago, I used to work with a mother of two who loved Half Life and would systematically kick the asses of every other guy in the department. XD Maybe guys in the programming world are worried more women would have a bigger e-peen than them...
101. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  Precisely what part of my actual comment did you interpret to mean that I made the assumption that a male inserted that constant?
102. Re:0xB16B00B5 by atomicxblue · 2012-07-19 11:14 · Score: 1
  
  Troll or not, this was completely uncalled for!
103. Re:0xB16B00B5 by DeadCatX2 · 2012-07-19 11:15 · Score: 1
  
  My wife loves big tits almost as much as I do. Does that make her sexist?
  
  --
  :(){ :|:& };:
104. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arth1 · 2012-07-19 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  If by "fabulous pair" you mean, "sweaty, hairy, pale-skinned, lumps of jiggling flesh, complete with disgusting cheese in the inframammary crease," then yes,
  I know girls that fit this description...
  And yes, they do think they have a "fabulous pair".
105. Re:0xB16B00B5 by DeadCatX2 · 2012-07-19 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  Nintendo also uses 0x0D15EA5E in the Wii as a magic value. It's always located at the same address in the Wii's RAM.
  
  --
  :(){ :|:& };:
106. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 11:17 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Generally I agree with you -- in fact I'm going to go ahead and say that I too prize individuality. At the same time, I don't think the workplace is necessarily the best place to express your individuality in its full force. A workplace means being part of a team, and it's in the interest of the employer to make sure that talented individuals who are great at their jobs and have something to contribute are going to feel comfortable at the office and able to contribute their best. This frequently means sacrificing some of your individuality while at the workplace. I think working as a programmer should only require that you be *good at writing code*. It shouldn't matter how sensitive or insensitive you are, and it shouldn't matter how much capacity you have for handling stress coming from having blatantly insensitive, domineering coworkers. I think it is to the best advantage of employers to manage their businesses in a way that promotes having anyone who is *good at writing code* feel comfortable at the office.
107. Re:0xB16B00B5 by atomicxblue · 2012-07-19 11:18 · Score: 1
  
  I would roll my eyes at that and think that the person who put it in is acting like a 6 year old child. It also might make me question the accuracy of their code.
108. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 11:25 · Score: 1
  
  I've apparently poorly communicated my point. I don't think there's anything sexist about loving big tits. What *is* sexist is routinely displaying behavior *at work* that would make people of a particular sex feel less welcome there. So no, IMHO your wife's sexual preferences do not in and of themselves make her sexist.
109. Re:0xB16B00B5 by drinkypoo · 2012-07-19 11:27 · Score: 1
  
  More worrying... same code-monkey is monkeying around in MY LINUX KERNEL. What?!?!?!?
  linux is like good science, peer-reviewed. If you're so concerned, you can subscribe to LKML and read the patches
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
110. Re:0xB16B00B5 by exomondo · 2012-07-19 11:30 · Score: 1
  
  Precisely what part of my actual comment did you interpret to mean that I made the assumption that a male inserted that constant?
  
  Your whole post is about women feeling oppressed by such a comment, which is clearly false if it were written by a woman, that would prove it is not by and large offensive to women in general and that the reality is anyone might be offended by it regardless of their gender, it's inappropriate, not sexist. The constant 0xFA7C0C45 might make men or women feel uncomfortable, does that make it sexist or just inappropriate?
111. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arth1 · 2012-07-19 11:33 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  it might mean making a point of making *eye contact* with the lady with the well-endowed chest
  Where I grew up, only ophthalmologists and people who wanted to fuck you made eye contact. Even after 13 years in the US, I still can't make eye contact without it becoming obvious how much I dislike it. If my gaze is further down it's because I was brought up to be polite.
  On the other hand, I also grew up without equating breasts or nudity with sex. Big breasts, big ears, big calves - it's pretty much all the same. They're just body parts we all have in various sizes. *shrug*
112. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 11:33 · Score: 1
  
  "Clearly false if it were written by a woman"... I think it's *you* who's making an assumption here. I suppose the question of whether "0xFA7C0C45" is sexist or just inappropriate/unprofessional is a fairly subjective one. Is there really that much of a distinction there in your mind?
113. Re:0xB16B00B5 by exomondo · 2012-07-19 11:43 · Score: 1
  
  "Clearly false if it were written by a woman"... I think it's *you* who's making an assumption here.
  
  So what you're saying is you believe it could have been written by a woman denigrating women whereby it is somehow an indictment against women? In fact it isn't, which is the reason it is inappropriate but not sexist.
  
  I suppose the question of whether "0xFA7C0C45" is sexist or just inappropriate/unprofessional is a fairly subjective one. Is there really that much of a distinction there in your mind?
  
  It's not subjective, it's clear that it is not an indictment on either sex and that either sex could equally find it offensive.
114. Re:0xB16B00B5 by hcs_$reboot · 2012-07-19 11:45 · Score: 1
  
  It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortable.
  So unlikely. Thus, there is no sexism at all.
  
  --
  Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
115. Re:0xB16B00B5 by webgovernor · 2012-07-19 11:50 · Score: 1
  
  But... your "tiny female brains" cannot cope with a comment about breasts? It seems to me that you're being a little too sensitive, maybe I'm obese and I have large breasts... it certainly doesn't offend me. Even if they're using some weird base that would allow for WE3G0V32N025316B00B5. Still, who cares?
116. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Obfuscant · 2012-07-19 11:51 · Score: 2
  
  That being said, IMHO if female coworkers were routinely commenting on the size of your nose or your waist line, that would very definitely be unprofessional behavior on their part.
  That would be talking about specific co-workers.
  
  And if a female programmer named her constants things like "TINY_DICK_LOSER," I'd count that as sexism.
  That would be derogatory and insulting.
  A variable named "BIGBOOBS" is neither specific nor derogatory or insulting. That makes it different. Unless, of course, a woman is offended by something, then that makes it harassment no matter what it is or who said it.
117. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arth1 · 2012-07-19 11:54 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  > I use 0xdeadbeef as a magic constant
  Have you considered how offensive that can be to vegans?
  Or many Indians, for that matter.
  The problem is that you want a long word that's instantly recognizable, unlikely to occur in normal use. Preferably odd so it will throw a violation on any pointer usage wider than bytes on most systems, and with the high bit set so it can trigger signed/unsigned 31/32 bit assignment tests.
  And it should also be fairly unique - everyone uses 0xDEADBEEF and the other commonly known ones, so don't pick those if you want to know whether it was your driver that caused the crash.
  B16B00B5 is near ideal in this respect, except for B00B being a loaded word in some cultures. I'm not sure DEFEC8ED or BABEF00D would be much better. 0xBAAAAAAD perhaps?
118. Re:0xB16B00B5 by geekoid · 2012-07-19 11:58 · Score: 1
  
  Men get tons of sexist shit to, but we deal with it. If we don't people just make fun of us.
  If the juvenile stunt like this drives anyone away from programming, I can't see how they could even function.
  I fit had be a women who put in "0xB1GD1C45" I guarantee you no one would have said a thing.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
119. Re:0xB16B00B5 by webgovernor · 2012-07-19 11:58 · Score: 1
  
  I, for one, have no issues with a programmer of either gender using "TINY_DICK_LOSER" as a constant name, aside from the old belief that capital "i" or "o" is generally bad form (ambiguous with "l" or "0" when using crappy fonts).
  In fact, I might actually begin to socially respect said programmer for their sophomoric humor. I see have no animosity towards a joke here and there.
  It's not like he created an obviously sexist constant such as "WOMEN_CANT_DRIVE" or "MAKE_ME_SAMMICH" or "GO_BACK2KITCHEN" or "DONT_BLEED_ON_MY_CODE".
120. Re:0xB16B00B5 by geekoid · 2012-07-19 12:01 · Score: 1
  
  " I've been dealing with hex my entire life and had to read it 4 times to see what the problem was."
  Then you aren't very good at it. There is no way you could be any good at all, and not see that.
  The internet is old enough now, you can grow the fuck up when you are on it.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
121. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Penguinisto · 2012-07-19 12:02 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  if a woman feels uncomfortable with something men are doing, she's automatically "uptight" or "frigid."
  
  ...and if a guy is uncomfortable with something women (or even other men) are doing, he usually gets called a "prude", or "uptight", or worse.
  So if your point was that women have it oh-so-bad, and that's the worst you can come up with, then you're in for a big letdown out here in the real world, sister.
  I daresay that it's quite the opposite these days. If a woman is "uncomfortable with something men are doing", one word to the HR department of any large company will see half of those men either fired or damned close to it.
  
  Professionalism dictates keeping this sort of thing out of the workplace.
  
  Please tell me where you work, so I don't ever accidentally apply there.
  I know female sysadmins who can crank out jokes dirtier than any sailor can think up. We used to keep a rubber chicken hanging from a cable tray by a noose made of Cat6e. We went out of our way to come up with the most evil and funny descriptions of our incompetent (then)head of IT. The difference is that we kept it in the server room, and away from the serious bits.
  In the real world of insane work hours and incredible pressure, any IT manager who insists on worshipping "Professionalism" usually finds him/her/itself having to explain high turnover/burn-out/wastage rates, and is quickly blackballed in the local professional network.
  
  Sure, some women may be able to laugh it off for the sake of appearing to be a "team player" and putting the men on the team at ease, but honestly I can't imagine very many of us are actually truly completely comfortable with the idea of people we aren't reasonably intimate with commenting on our chests.
  The cure is simple - comment on penises. I mean, shit - it's way the hell easier to joke about "shortcomings" than it is about "mosquito bites". I guarantee that shit will stop in a heartbeat if you fought fire with fire.
  Life is rough - wear a helmet and remember to aim for the torso.
  
  As long as you don't have an officemate who's constantly showering you with unsolicited innuendo.
  
  There's a vast diff between the rare and occasional goof and "constantly showering". If you're seeing the latter, go to HR or get a lawyer. If you're seeing the former, then stand up for yourself and hit back, or ignore it. If you can't tell the difference, then the problem is yours, and you're making it everyone else's problem at the same time. So stop doing that, or I guarantee that your career will eventually crash and burn.
  
  --
  Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
122. Re:0xB16B00B5 by FatdogHaiku · 2012-07-19 12:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe it's in base 36
  In this thread I would think it obligatory to go all the way to base 69.
  
  --
  You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
123. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 12:02 · Score: 1
  
  You should have taken the opportunity to introduce the bigoted dickhead to the development team.
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
124. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-19 12:03 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Not my style. I own a software company (well, we are manufacturing our own hardware too now , but we're still mostly a software company).
  Sure, we hire good coders, but we hire good people, and that's above your coding ability. We have a great environment, and we don't want to spoil it with PC bullshit. We are animals, and so are most of our employees, and we'd like to keep it that way. And you wouldn't believe how much of an awesome environment you can get when people can be themselves, and not worry about what they can and can't do/say/wear/express/whatever. That's why we only hire non-religious people, people who aren't afraid of bad language, rough attitudes, bad smells, and that usually translates to people that isn't afraid of hard work either.
  At my company, we troll each other badly, there are no limits, there is no respect for anybody, not even for the owners (my associate and me). Yes, when I fuck up my employees feel free to insult me, and I couldn't be happier about it. I enjoy the same freedom. We get together once a week for bbq and zombie movies. We have a basketball court in the back, and we play rough. Believe it or not, people is actually happy to come in to work on monday, because they feel fucking free. Many of them (specially those that are married) feel more free than they do at home. In our company, the lowest tech calls the CEO a fag for using apple products, and we all laugh, and that's just fine. Getting offended is GREAT. In our culture, this idea that people have a right to not be offended has grown big lately. It's plain wrong. Being offended makes you feel alive, challenges your preconceptions, and makes you overall a better person. It sparks change, and that is always a good thing.
  We spend most of our life at work, mostly because it's what we love doing, it's our project, our company, regardless of how much stock you own. Keeping it _just_ professional would be a complete waste of your time.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
125. Re:0xB16B00B5 by b4dc0d3r · 2012-07-19 12:12 · Score: 1
  
  I don't get the feeling that you are discussing this rationally, or considering the other perspectives. If you were, you probably would have chosen a different constant name as an example. As has been pointed out, 0xB16B00B5 does not seem directed towards a specific person.
  I would consider your exaggerated example more of an insult than sexism, and does suggest a specific individual. Maybe if you went with LONG_DONG as the example instead, I would not have had the reaction I had. Generalized anatomical observation using slang terms, but no profanity, in other words.
  As long as I'm here, you also took the word "uptight" and lumped it in with "frigid" in your previous post - again exaggerating the tone of the original comment.
  I have no choice but to agree with AC above, you seem to have a bias in interpretation. Whether it is conscious or not is irrelevant. It makes getting your point across harder when you sound closed-minded or radiate zealotry, even if you have valid points.
  Hopefully this feedback has been helpful, I have tried not to come across as an attack, but it is hard to convey tone through text alone. If someone is looking for a fight, they will read this as fighting words, after all.
126. Re:0xB16B00B5 by geekoid · 2012-07-19 12:13 · Score: 1
  
  "she's automatically "uptight""
  not automatically, but she could be. Now everything is sexist. Sometime it's just childish.
  " Professionalism dictates keeping this sort of thing out of the workplace."
  Sure, but life isn't perfect. Sometimes childish things happen.
  " Sure, some women may be able to laugh it off for the sake of appearing to be a "team player" and putting the men on the team at ease,"
  that's pretty condescending to women.
  " I can't imagine very many of us are actually truly completely comfortable with the idea "
  That's you're hang up. Don't pin it on all women.
  "people we aren't reasonably intimate with commenting on our chests."
  and there's the problem. It says bigboobs. Not Kate6 big boobs. That aren't talking to or about you.
  It's a childish way to get "boobs" in hex. It in no way indicates a hatred of women, the women can't do the job, or anything about women. It says the person thinks about 'boobs' and needs a lesson in professionalism.
  27 years ago I could imagine myself doing it. Is would have been childish, unprofessional, and need to be changed.. But in no way would I be making any comment on women about women specifically. Just a general statement that I like big boobs.
  "As long as you don't have an officemate who's constantly showering you with unsolicited innuendo."
  You should just be glad they're showering~ heh. Seriously, this isn't innuendo, check your ego.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
127. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 12:13 · Score: 1
  
  As a developer, I can safely say that anyone who feels persecuted and starts on a "woah is me" campaign as the result of a constant would not survive 10 minutes ramping up to one of our annual deadline releases. The pressure from across the business to ensure we launch by July 1 or face losing tens of millions of dollars of funding tends to crush the unprepared into finely grained dust.
  And for what it's worth, where I work we do not sacrifice our individuality just so that we can work - that's absolute bollocks. Companies just shouldn't hire people who don't fit in with their culture. We have quite a lot of women in our workplace, some of whom can get even more vulgar than the men (I know of one person in our entire workplace who will actually use the word "cunt" in a sentence, and you guessed it - she's female). And you know what? That's fine. It makes us work better together, strangely enough, because we can look past the fact that we're talking to Z from Team X and "that's not my job" and see that we're talking to Mark or Sarah who went to a barbeque with last week and "yeah I can spare you ten minutes to help you out with that".
  A workplace is a group of individuals, not a fucking hive-mind. Individuals look, think, and act differently to one another, and frequently it's the compound of those differences that make any team more effective at solving a given issue. We should be prizing the individuality and how it can contribute to the whole, not crushing it into dust to satisfy some overly sensitive gits of either gender. There are workplaces that don't prize individuality, and don't even need to, and those are where people who believe everyone should sacrifice their own sense of self to satisfy the drone culture should work.
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
128. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 12:16 · Score: 1
  
  The post below yours in the thread actually validates your statistic.
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
129. Re:0xB16B00B5 by NotQuiteReal · 2012-07-19 12:19 · Score: 1
  
  Of course "boobs" is specific to women.
  
  Now THAT's sexist! Most boobs I know are male.
  
  --
  This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
130. Re:0xB16B00B5 by geekoid · 2012-07-19 12:19 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  ""TINY_DICK_LOSER," " is different the BIGBOOBS.
  BIBBOOBS_WINNER would be the same thing.
  A more appropriate example would be "TINY_DICK" or really "BIG_DICK"
  I do make the assumption the my coworkers and I can disagree in a professional manner.
  This is like that damn discussion I got into with HR about 15 years ago because someone was offended I used the term DAEMONS when referring to UNIX DAEMONS.
  Really, no one should talk to anyone about anything because they person might be offended by any one..which I find offensive.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
131. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  Well, best of luck to you with that philosophy. :)
132. Re:0xB16B00B5 by geekoid · 2012-07-19 12:22 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Both of which are far more social; which I think likes the reason for such a low amount of women Computer programmers.
  Sit in a cube by your self all day. Women are much more social then men.
  OF COURSE these are generalities.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
133. Re:0xB16B00B5 by geekoid · 2012-07-19 12:37 · Score: 1
  
  " my write to say and write whatever the fuck I want."
  you have no such right when you work for a company.
  " Anyone can do whatever the fuck they want, as long as you don't step on anybody's rights. How about that? "
  Are you 15? Think about that. Here's one place to start specify what considers stepping on other peoples rights?.
  " equal is killing individuality,"
  I wonder how slaves felt about that individuality? whole group of people who are different from the controlling class?
  You don't live on an island. Everything you do.EVERYTHING impacts someone in some way. THAT'S why there isn't a simple rule.
  
  --
  The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
134. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Dave+Emami · 2012-07-19 12:37 · Score: 2
  
  Leetspeek kiddies may see patterns in hex constants but people who have actual paying jobs generally don't.
  Really, because I use 0xdeadbeef as a magic constant all the time. In my paying job where I write code for a living.
  0xdeadbeef isn't leetspeak, though -- it doesn't substitute numbers of letters, and for that matter it's spelled correctly.
  I do think the "it's sexist" attitude is a rather silly, though. How many guys would to be offended or feel bad at seeing 0xB16BA115 somewhere in the code? Well, except for those who would think "I touched someone else's 0xB16BA115 with my cursor, does that make me gay?"
  
  --
  
  "The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
135. Re:0xB16B00B5 by b4dc0d3r · 2012-07-19 12:54 · Score: 1
  
  I work at a place where informal speech is par for the course. A manager sent out a mail about using appropriate language because you could be overheard by someone you are not intending to talk to. A professional environment deserves that sort of respect for the people around you, especially since you don't always know who is on the other side of the wall.
  And whether someone is too fragile to work in an environment of potty mouths is irrelevant. You don't stick to politically correct speech out of fear of offending someone - it's what polite society does. Reprimands are in order even if no one is offended, because the workplace just does not allow for certain things. You might teabag a friend at home as a joke, but you wouldn't do it at most work places.
  If you work in an environment which is not part of polite society, you are not held to the same standard.
  The manager who sent the mail almost immediately walked around the corner with both middle fingers waving and said "You can show it, you just can't say it." And it's like that a lot of places - polite society is unnatural, but it's the lowest common denominator until you get to know the people a bit better and can relax a bit. Every place I have worked has had a policy of professionalism, which was violated every single day by some person or another. We all know it's there, we all know it's going to be broken, and we act surprised when it happens. I'm not saying that's the way it should work, I'm saying that's the way it does. And until you change a whole lot of peoples' minds, especially those in charge of HR at large employers, your opinion is going to live in its own little bubble.
  If you work in, or represent, a professional environment, you have to convey the atmosphere of that environment. And this magic constant gives the impression that Microsoft coders are childish and possibly under-sexed (not sexist as some claim, IMO). Regardless of whether that type of humor is normal for the Linux environment, it came from Microsoft and represents Microsoft. They could have gone with a more neutral magic value, like the 0xBB40E64E security cookie for stack checking. Of course, if you're looking for trouble you could read it as a veiled reference to breasts followed by ridiculous bra sizes: Big Boobs 40E 64E.
  Keep in mind, I haven't taken a position on this - simply pointing out that your philosophy is not a good fit with reality.
136. Re:0xB16B00B5 by pipedwho · 2012-07-19 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  The debug message? "The first time always hurts..." and the sleazy sexual innuendo kept coming. Some people just don't ever grow up, they'd still snicker at that in the retirement home...
  As opposed to the dull boring retirement home where everyone just sits around complaining about everything and laughing about nothing?
  Sign me up to one where they still snigger at the little things. The only way "growing up" could ever mean losing your sense of humour, is if it refers to the daisies that I'll be pushing up from six feet below ground.
137. Re:0xB16B00B5 by oursland · 2012-07-19 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  0xDEFEC8
  It's only 24-bits of what is often a 32-bit value. I prefer 0xDEFEC8ED for this purpose!
138. Re:0xB16B00B5 by philip.paradis · 2012-07-19 13:14 · Score: 1
  
  I'm no fan of Microsoft, but if ever there was a time for "citation needed" it's now. Please provide references detailing all of Microsoft's acquisitions and their P/L performance over the last 10 years.
  In other words, you can't just make assertions like the one you've made without demonstrating why they're true.
  
  --
  Write failed: Broken pipe
139. Re:0xB16B00B5 by jo42 · 2012-07-19 13:16 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry, I'll immediately take out all the 0xC0DEBABE tags from my code...
140. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 13:28 · Score: 1
  
  If you feel uncomfortable and put off a career in software by someone else using a constant that can be interpreted as "big boobs" then you have some social issues to deal with. Big boobs should be the least of your worries.
  I don't stay away from the internet be cause the Cook Islands decided to use .co.ck for their commercial domains. That could be read as "cock"! How sexist.
141. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 13:30 · Score: 1
  
  I'm just smart enough to not work overtime without pay.
142. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 13:35 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  But it was a hexadecimal gag, not octal...
143. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 13:37 · Score: 1
  
  I definitely want more female coders, and more females in the workplace.
  I just took a contract at a government department. Must more females than my previous contracts at banks and telcos. Easier on the eyes too.
144. Re:0xB16B00B5 by RobbieCrash · 2012-07-19 13:41 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  The world is a pretty sexist place. See the Anita Sarkeesian thing and subsequent fury of sexist idiocy that accompanied it. Simply because you don't feel it's sexist, doesn't mean it's not.
  There is a societal impression that sexism has been defeated because the wage gap has narrowed and women have the right to vote. It's simply not the case, discrimination against women is alive and well. The attitude about what is and what is not sexist plays a pretty big part in the propagation of that discrimination.
  
  --
  Keep on knockin'
  https://robbiecrash.me
145. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kate6 · 2012-07-19 13:49 · Score: 1
  
  *I* don't actually personally feel uncomfortable with that particular constant in any way shape or form. But I've quit programming jobs before because of other comments that *did* make me feel uncomfortable, and the people who made those comments sounded an awful lot like this when they told me over and over again that I was overreacting. The main job I'm thinking of where this happened was one in which I was the lead programmer. I was being paid 1099 and my employer never bothered to have me sign a contract, and this employer had a way of getting very, very offensive when he was feeling stressed out. So suddenly I found myself being hounded with uncomfortable texts, Emails and Skype calls and being told that because I'm "just a service provider" I had no right to complain. I ended up leaving him high and dry a few weeks before a hard deadline with a major client, losing him several thousand dollars in the process... Money that he could easily have saved if he'd demonstrated the *slightest* willingness to even *try* to be a little bit more professional with me. But this isn't about my personal comfort level and how much stress I can tolerate. It's about the idea that encouraging a diverse workplace involves acknowledging that on a personal level, your co-workers may think and feel very differently about things than you do, and demonstrating a willingness to be sensitive to that. Yeah, you're probably right, someone who'll quit her job over one very geeky and mildly dirty joke probably has a few issues. But the question to really ask is how commonplace this type of thing is at any particular company.
146. Re:0xB16B00B5 by i286NiNJA · 2012-07-19 13:50 · Score: 1
  
  Would you grow up?
  We all know this could just as easily been L0LD0N65 or B16BU775 I myself use the word poopie quite frequently with peepee and turds also popular. I don't know that I would use them in anything serious.
147. Re:0xB16B00B5 by k(wi)r(kipedia) · 2012-07-19 13:51 · Score: 1
  
  Technicalities and what-ifs do not change what the person likely intended and the way it is read by, well, pretty much everyone.
  So what did the person who wrote it, intend? Do we punish people for what is effectively a thought crime? And "pretty much everyone" is a nice shorthand for groupthink. Just because everybody thinks so, it must be right?
148. Re:0xB16B00B5 by i286NiNJA · 2012-07-19 13:55 · Score: 1
  
  insanely_large_dick()
  I would think she was awesome and give her a hi-5
149. Re:0xB16B00B5 by i286NiNJA · 2012-07-19 13:56 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah that arrogance runs all the way through Sony.
150. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 13:57 · Score: 1, Troll
  
  Her point of view is to stamp on freedom of speech.
151. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arthurpaliden · 2012-07-19 14:16 · Score: 1
  
  No I just doubled the price, we wrote the original software so only we could do the job, and gave all the ladies on the team, programmers and admin staff alike, nice bonuses. That is the beauty of small companies you can do things like that.
  
  --
  Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
152. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Zaelath · 2012-07-19 14:25 · Score: 1
  
  Mother, phrasing!
153. Re:0xB16B00B5 by dhasenan · 2012-07-19 14:30 · Score: 1
  
  If I were reviewing code and saw a crass reference to primary or secondary sex characteristics that was not explicitly required, that would not pass code review. I would also have a talk with the person about professionalism. It doesn't matter whether they are male or female. It's not how I want my company to be portrayed externally, and it's not something I want in my corporate culture.
154. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ZosX · 2012-07-19 14:30 · Score: 2
  
  I like boobs of all shapes and sizes. Except the extremely large saggy boobs. Nobody likes those.
  
  --
  zosxavius photography
155. Re:0xB16B00B5 by smellotron · 2012-07-19 14:35 · Score: 1
  
  I love it! I remember seeing "happy meal ethernet" references in an internship in a UNIX support team.
156. Re:0xB16B00B5 by garyebickford · 2012-07-19 14:42 · Score: 1
  
  The main reason, from my own experience, first in many years in the industry, then a few years back in school, is that most US women just don't like it, and don't think it's worth doing. I have literally never worked in a shop where the females were not treated with more respect and appreciation, and inclusiveness, than most of their male counterparts. (I'm sure they exist but I've never seen it.)
  Most recently I was talking to the (female) head of the CS department at a largish public University. She told me that there was a grand total of 0 female US citizens in the graduate CS program, while about 1/4 or 1/3 of the foreign students were female.
  The big difference was that the foreign students were there because they knew that for them, having this degree would be the difference between living life as a professional, vs. the entire family being or remaining dirt poor with no job prospects. In some cases the student was being funded by the collected pennies of an entire village, with the expectation that once they got through and started making money, they would be able to help the village and sponsor another student or two. Folks in the rest of the world know that a 'hard science' or 'hard engineering' job is the key to future prosperity.
  The vast majority of US students (including me, long ago) go to college to be 'fulfilled' and 'take something interesting' - we have a hugely optimistic expectation that life will be OK regardless.
  At the same Uni perhaps 1/3 of the CS instructors in CS, and at least 1/2 of the instructors in the math department were female.
  And finally, my own niece, having finished high school with a 4.0 average and planning to get dual degrees in engineering and something else (I forget) and become an astronaut, took one term of college-level engineering courses and hated it. She is now going for a psych degree and no astronautics. (Sigh.)
  
  --
  It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
157. Re:0xB16B00B5 by garyebickford · 2012-07-19 14:50 · Score: 1
  
  I only use a few magic constants.
  I like to use ZERO = 0x01 and ONE = 0x00. :)
  
  --
  It's easier to be a result of the past, but more fun to be a cause of the future! http://www.spacefinancegroup.com/
158. Re:0xB16B00B5 by RobbieCrash · 2012-07-19 14:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  "Femminism is supposed to be about equality and social change, right ? Then here's a social "problem" I would like the change: the complete double-standard backwardness that has been instituted in the name of "feminism." For example: if a guy expresses his sexuality or his sexual nature in any way he is labeled a "pig" but if a woman does it it's applauded as "liberating.""
  [citation needed]
  If a woman was going around bragging about her conquests she'd be labelled a slut and people would talk shit on her, while the dude, after being called a pig, is applauded.
  You don't see the impact of patriarchal society because you don't experience the effects. The same way that many white people feel that there is no such thing as institutionalized racism in North America because they don't experience it.
  If the comment in the code were 'slanty eyes' nobody would be disputing it's racist nature, but because this is an issue of sexism it's ignored. There is a societal bias against women, the same as there's one against minorities.
  The foundation of the theory only seems polarizing because again, we as men, don't experience the institutionalized sexism that western society has. It's not overt "you can't do that because you're a woman" it's "here beautiful, let me do that for you." Just like institutionalized racism isn't a lynch mob lookin' to hang someone any more, it's being watched by security in a store for being black.
  
  --
  Keep on knockin'
  https://robbiecrash.me
159. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ZygnuX · 2012-07-19 15:02 · Score: 1
  
  So, since when do you use B in octal?
160. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 15:25 · Score: 1
  
  Second, this logical comparison only works when neither group is routinely marginalized and demeaned by a pervasive institutional bias.
  No, it works whenever you try to claim that your arbitrary standards reign supreme.
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
161. Re:0xB16B00B5 by garett_spencley · 2012-07-19 15:35 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  "If a woman was going around bragging about her conquests she'd be labelled a slut and people would talk shit on her, while the dude, after being called a pig, is applauded."
  By women. The men I know would be asking for her phone number.
  "You don't see the impact of patriarchal society because you don't experience the effects. The same way that many white people feel that there is no such thing as institutionalized racism in North America because they don't experience it."
  I find that interesting because as I hinted to, I've experienced the same thing from a male's perspective, from my own family. I experience gender bias all the time from people who proudly label themselves "feminists." They make generalizations about men, they side with my wife every time the two of us have a dispute and we seek support from family, they speak for me as if they know what I'm going to do and the false assumptions they make are based on the fact that I have a penis. Women think they know what I'm thinking and what my intentions are just because I'm a man. So I know exactly how it feels and I do experience it, only I experience it from the same people who complaining about it most vocally.
  That's what I was alluding to when I said "... I don't see it. In fact, I see the trend going in the opposite direction." and "the complete double-standard backwardness that has been instituted in the name of 'feminism.'"
  I remember a time when I was working along side a female sysadmin. The two of us always got along and worked very well together. One day we had a dispute, I wish I could remember what it was about but it's not that important, she got extremely upset and accused me of being sexist and hating women etc. I would have been very open to the possibility that I said something which was perceived as sexist completely unintentionally, but fortunately for me the argument was made in front of several witnesses, some of them women, and they didn't understand where she was coming from. Now that may be her past experiences causing biases which were transferred to me, perhaps she worked with a lot of chauvinists and/or misogynists and something about our argument worked as a trigger, but I submit that as one small piece of anecdotal evidence that men are being thrown under the bus in a huge way and the "movement" is becoming quite hypocritical without even realizing it. Publicly accusing someone of gender bias in the workplace is a very big deal.
162. Re:0xB16B00B5 by neiljt · 2012-07-19 15:43 · Score: 1
  
  Parsed & agreed. Not sure why this would offend anyone in the readership.
163. Re:0xB16B00B5 by garett_spencley · 2012-07-19 15:56 · Score: 1
  
  Sorry for the double post but in hindsight I really wish I had elaborated more on this one part of yours:
  "If a woman was going around bragging about her conquests she'd be labelled a slut and people would talk shit on her, while the dude, after being called a pig, is applauded."
  Firstly, you brought up the word "conquest." And that's something, not just the word but the entire sentiment, that I hear way more from women than from men, and it's also a very derogatory way of regarding men and male sexuality.
  Obviously I'm not a woman, I don't have the female perspective, but I do believe that all relationships not only between men and women but all people in general have to be earned. And I see something extremely romantic in the idea of one person, be it a man or a woman, pursuing another and winning them over. And when someone achieves a value the natural human response to that success is pride.
  Now there are frauds out there in all walks of life. I have no doubt there are guys who lie to women and tell them they love her in order to get in her pants and then prove themselves liars by never calling etc. but that's not what I'm talking about; I don't recognize achieving a value by means of fraud as being worthy of experiencing pride and someone who brags about it is akin to someone who brags about robbing a bank. And I bring this up to say that one could point out that there are women who lie about being on birth control or fake pregnancies to get married but it would be unfair to assume that all women are like that, right? Just as it's unfair to assume that all men are liars and cheats. Though it seems to be the cliche. There's a gender stereotype there, which is what "feminists" are supposed to be against.
  So back to this idea of "conquest." When I said "express their sexuality" I wasn't talking about getting laid. I was talking about being open about being a sexual creature who is attracted to other humans. That's it. So a guy who says "big boobies" is sexist while a girl who makes a comment about a guy's butt being cute is encouraged.
  And realize that you chose to interpret that as "getting into someone's pants and then bragging about it" which says a lot about your own biases and stereotypes. And I will end by saying that if a girl were to "earn" the title of "slut" from a man or a woman, it would not be because of a "conquest" it would be because of a lack of conquest; i.e: no chase, no pursuit, no earning ... just giving it away to anyone in exchange for nothing. The trade of a value for a null or disvalue.
164. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Jiro · 2012-07-19 15:57 · Score: 1
  
  As for WHY women don't like engineering/programming, I think it's because they are smart. They are smart enough not to go into such a boring field where the managers or HR treat you like low-level employees to be shoved into basement offices & worked 50 hours w/o overtime pay.
  You may joke about it, but that's actually the answer. Once they get past a certain minimal level of income, women are generally much less willing than men to sacrifice their personal lives and job satisfaction to make a lot of money. (Also, given unequal notions of marriage, women may very well expect their husband to support the family and take the shitty job.) Under those circumstances, women won't make as much money, and won't be in certain fields very much.
  A variation of this extends outside work. I'm sure that if girls were as willing to become social outcasts as boys, a lot more of them would be geeks.
165. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Compaqt · 2012-07-19 15:58 · Score: 1
  
  Where did you grow up, by the way?
  
  --
  I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
166. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Jiro · 2012-07-19 16:01 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, you have to decide for them that they're overreacting.
  Are you seriously suggesting that they are the only ones who can decide if they themselves are overreacting? Newsflash: nobody thinks they are the ones who are overreacting. If overreacting could not be judged by another person, you'd never be able to say that anyone was overreacting at all.
167. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 16:07 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Or maybe you are being overly sensitive.
  This is at worst childish, not sexist.
  I agree, but FYI the reason why it was thought to be sexist was "At the most basic level it's just straightforward childish humour, and the use of vaguely-English strings in magic hex constants is hardly uncommon. But it's also specifically male childish humour. Puerile sniggering at breasts contributes to the continuing impression that software development is a boys club where girls aren't welcome."
  
  Anyone who sees it as sexist is trolling for attention or is trying to make herself feel special.
  You say "herself" as if it could only be a women who would agree that this was sexist. But from the article it seems to have been someone called "Paolo", which I assume is a boy's name, and there is a Matthew involved as well. Many men like the ideal of human equality and are sensitive to sexism, just as many whites like the idea of human equality and are sensitive to racism.
  As I said, I think they are being oversensitive in this case - but, in my mind it's better to be oversensitive and get a few false positives than the reverse. At least they are trying to promote equlity in our culture.
168. Re:0xB16B00B5 by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 16:08 · Score: 1
  
  Thank goodness.
  I don't want ANYONE working on a team with me that's going to feed "uncomfortable" over something this funny.
  And no, it's not sexist. Anyone who works in software development knows that man boobs are probably bigger than what a lot of you females are carrying. The only thing "sexist" about this are the whiners that want to make something juvenile and ridiculous into a "debate" about "sexism" in software development.
  "And believe it or not, sort of thing is the reason why there are so few female programmers."
  Then the programming world is better off the way it is now. I really don't think industry is improved by disallowing a sense of humor and looking hard to find bigotry where none exists. I don't care what your sex, race, creed or color is, if you find "0xB16B00B5" to be "offensive" you're so uptight that you're really not worth dealing with.
169. Re:0xB16B00B5 by rev0lt · 2012-07-19 16:10 · Score: 1
  
  As such, it contributes to the feeling that Linux kernel development is an area in which women aren't welcome...
  What feeling? Are the female kernel programmers leaving in droves because the kernel may be riddled with sexist remarks? Is it expected that a women in software development (which is mostly a male field) to be that sensitive about trivia? Do you forwn on using "tail", or putting a pipe in front of it? Do you steer away from large python packages, because it sounds dirty? Because, you know, 0xB16B00B5 isn't nowhere near BIGBOOBS as fsck is to fuck.
  
  And believe it or not, sort of thing is the reason why there are so few female programmers.
  ...And yet, you have tons of females working in way more sexist environments, such as civil engineering, fashion, film industry, table serving or even the porn industry.
  
  Our "tiny female brains" can cope with the actual work *just fine*.
  Condescendent remarks only affect your credibility. If you are somewhat offended with the constant mentioned in the article, it's not because you are a woman - it's because you probably have serious social problems. Nothing wrong with that, but don't just assume "you speak for the woman".
170. Re:0xB16B00B5 by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 16:32 · Score: 1
  
  You make a really broken assumption here: if a woman feels uncomfortable with something men are doing, she's automatically "uptight" or "frigid."
  If I worked on a team where ANYONE felt "uncomfortable" by something like 0xB16B00B5, they'd be on my shit list. That's not sexist. I guess I'm a humorist because I cannot stand people without a sense of humor.
  There's is nothing sexist about being juvenile or crude. Implying a female programmer isn't qualified because she's a female is.
  Fart jokes are crude, not sexist. 0xB16B00B5 is juvenile (and hilarious), not sexist. If this code could have been something like 0x5MA11P3N15 (which I know is not hex) and the programmer doing it was a female no guy out there would have been like, "Woah shit, that's sexist. I feel uncomfortable." (And seriously, fuck him if he does. Wuss.) At the very least there would be no "debate."
  If a "professional" environment means working somewhere that people are so on edge about being funny that something as innocuous 0xB16B00B5 might be "offensive" then please, leave it. Give me an office with jeans, t-shirts and fart jokes. Oh yeah, and boob jokes and dick jokes.
171. Re:0xB16B00B5 by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 16:42 · Score: 2
  
  And exactly who the fuck is 0xB16B00B5 "discriminating" against? Being crude and juvenile aren't inherently discriminatory.
  Complaining about something that IS discriminatory is certainly something you should do. Complaining about something as innocuous as 0xB16B00B5 (and it is in this context, it's not like you left it as a post-it on some-broad-with-big-tits' monitor) just makes you a humorless twat that virtually no one wants to work with on any level.
172. Re:0xB16B00B5 by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 16:50 · Score: 1
  
  And it would also be hilarious.
173. Re:0xB16B00B5 by arth1 · 2012-07-19 16:52 · Score: 1
  
  Where did you grow up, by the way?
  In a culture where it would be rude to ask personal questions like that. ;-)
174. Re:0xB16B00B5 by electrons_are_brave · 2012-07-19 16:55 · Score: 1
  
  Brilliant parody! You send up a total nincompoop really well. "I own my own software company". Sheezh!
175. Re:0xB16B00B5 by gizmonic · 2012-07-19 17:07 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  You don't make the assumption that your co-workers are all going to feel the same way as you on any potentially charged issue.
  No, they don't and won't. The question is whether everyone involved is emotionally and mentally mature enough to be able to discuss those types of topics without taking any disagreement personally. At my job, everyone in my group can handle discussing pretty much any topic with the knowledge that we don't all agree, won't all agree, and we all respect each other's opinions and beliefs. Thus, we can have discussions that enlighten us all with varying viewpoints, but the concepts of which, based on your postings here, would likely have you offended (and, if you are an HR-caller, calling HR as fast as you could). Thankfully, none of us are like that, and it makes work interesting and fun. I can't imagine working in such a cold sterile spirit killing workspace where the most you could discuss is the weather, and maybe a sports team, assuming it's not too violent a sport that others find offensive. :P
  As to the actual subject, none of our female developers would be offended by $bigboobs or anything like it, unless they felt someone specifically directed it at them. Likewise, none of the males would be upset by $tinydickloser or anything either, again, with the caveat that it wasn't directed at them. Granted, it'd never get past code review simply for lack of professionalism, but that's beside the point. None of us would see that as offensive or an attack. It'd be seen as childish and immature, sure, but not directly offensive.
  Which brings me to my last point. When you don't see yourself as a victim, those things aren't viewed as attacks. When you see yourself as a victim, then everything is an attack. If someone disagrees with you, it might be because they simply have a different idea, and not have anything to do with your gender, or skin color, or sexual preference, or religion, or political leanings or whatever. And that disagreement is just that, a disagreement, not a personal attack like most of America seems to think today.
  I highly doubt anything I just said will change your opinion on anything, and I've read your posts, and I know they haven't changed mine. Nice thing is, it's those differences that keep things interesting, and we don't HAVE to agree. It's perfectly okay for two people to hold different ideas. The world doesn't need to be wedged into the same pinhole. But that doesn't mean we can't share our ideas with each other.
  
  --
  WWJD?
  JWRTFM!
176. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 17:33 · Score: 1
  
  You are aware that the purpose of laughter in the workplace is to demonstrate submission, not enjoyment?
  "Studies have also found that dominant individuals -- the boss, the tribal chief or the family patriarch -- use humor more than their subordinates. If you've often thought that everyone in the office laughs when the boss laughs, you're very perceptive. In such cases, Morreall says, controlling the laughter of a group becomes a way of exercising power by controlling the emotional climate of the group."
  Confidential interviews with your employees might demonstrate they're not all as comfortable as you think they are.
177. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 17:38 · Score: 1
  
  Are there any women in your team? Would you welcome one? Or would you start tip-toeing around her and saying sorry to her for every stupid joke you make, making her feel as an outsider? Would you accept her jokes or would you start shaming her?
178. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 17:43 · Score: 1
  
  THIS.
  One should never ever forget, that the "victim" can just as well have a sexist/racist/whateverist mindset.
  Which results in him/her seeking for his personal obsession everywhere, and attacking people who didn't have any such intention whatsoever.
  A big example is supposedly racist/sexist/... jokes. A good response was:
  "What if I told you, that making [such] jokes doesn't mean one hates [that group] or treats them badly?"
  IMHO, "seeing the world through sexism-coloured glasses" IS sexism.
179. Re:0xB16B00B5 by BanHammor · 2012-07-19 17:55 · Score: 1
  
  Score 4: informative. Aha.
180. Re:0xB16B00B5 by mvdwege · 2012-07-19 18:01 · Score: 1
  
  And yet when one woman speaks up and criticizes the habit of making sexist jokes and remarks, suddenly all the men on this site start piling on and telling her that it isn't so bad, and why can't she take a joke, etc.
  Here's the counterquestion: you're all big boys, can't you handle a little criticism?
  And if the recurring nature of the feminist criticism grates, then think of what the recurring nature of sexist humour feels like to a woman.
  Mart
  
  --
  "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
181. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-19 18:04 · Score: 1
  
  Dude, you are posting this as anonymous coward, and demanding I post my company's name?
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
182. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-19 18:07 · Score: 1
  
  That's why I'm happy my company is its own fucking island.
  Also, fuck polite society. That's a stupid christian concept and I want nothing to do with it.
  Truth supersedes politeness.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
183. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-19 18:10 · Score: 1
  
  I am not in the US.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
184. Re:0xB16B00B5 by fafalone · 2012-07-19 18:16 · Score: 2
  
  Base 69?
185. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 18:32 · Score: 1
  
  I've always preferred 0x5MA11B00B5 myself.
  What base are you using?
  Second base.
186. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Lost+Race · 2012-07-19 18:38 · Score: 1
  
  You're referring to whom, exactly? The office furniture? The potted plants? The alien crystaline entities?
187. Re:0xB16B00B5 by icebraining · 2012-07-19 18:52 · Score: 2
  
  http://therealkatie.net/blog/2012/mar/21/lighten-up/
  
  --
  Dilbert RSS feed
188. Re:0xB16B00B5 by MadKeithV · 2012-07-19 19:00 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, but I doubt anyone is under the dilution
  If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
  You have dis solved.
189. Re:0xB16B00B5 by walshy007 · 2012-07-19 19:35 · Score: 1
  
  The reaction depends on what circles you travel.
  My biggest gripe is how feminists seem to have completely different standards to most others as to what is acceptable behaviour.
  I once had my head ripped off for having the gall to say "pleased to meet you miss" to a young lady. This is what feminism winds up at, no male can say anything even with simply the intention to be polite without being ripped into. Needless to say the young lady found the terms "miss" "lady" etc derogatory, although I failed to see how as such formality is only generaly used as a sign of respect.
  Why should males have to put up with that crap?
190. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Dan541 · 2012-07-19 19:57 · Score: 1
  
  Except it's a HEX not an actual word. "Big Boobs" doesn't actually appear at all, just a case of people seeing what they want to see.
  
  --
  An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
191. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Dan541 · 2012-07-19 19:59 · Score: 1
  
  Go over any random next and you'll be able to construct any sentence you wish.
  
  --
  An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
192. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Lotana · 2012-07-19 20:01 · Score: 1
  
  http://seenonslash.com/
193. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 20:12 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  MSexchange?
194. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Kokuyo · 2012-07-19 20:24 · Score: 1
  
  Shit, I hate coding and my present job is really good but I think I'd fit right in with you bastards. Heck, my wife would fit in quite well, too ;). Kudos from Switzerland *brofist*
195. Re:0xB16B00B5 by dbIII · 2012-07-19 20:46 · Score: 1
  
  There is no "female brain".
196. Re:0xB16B00B5 by TheRaven64 · 2012-07-19 21:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  As a vegetarian, I am offended that Microsoft's implementation marks free'd memory with 0xDEADBEEF! I demand that this be changed to something that won't offend me! Or Hindus! Or people with irrational dislike of certain numbers when represented in hex!
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
197. Re:0xB16B00B5 by TheRaven64 · 2012-07-19 21:24 · Score: 1
  
  If the tables were reversed and a female programmer declared a function called insanely_large_dick() do you think any males would throw up their hands in the air and quit their jobs in IT because they felt threatened and/or harassed?
  This argument has been made a couple of times, but it's misleading. For a function, I would certainly expect her to be reprimanded because function names are expected to be explanatory. Magic constants, in contrast, just have to be recognisable. 0x81680085 is easily recognisable and memorable. Picking an 8-digit hex number that meets those requirements is hard. 0xDEADBEEF, which Microsoft also uses, is probably the best example, because it immediately jumps out of a hex dump.
  
  --
  I am TheRaven on Soylent News
198. Re:0xB16B00B5 by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 21:35 · Score: 1
  
  Don't forget 0xCAFEBABE in every single Java class file.
199. Re:0xB16B00B5 by LourensV · 2012-07-19 21:37 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that it's childish, and that this particular debug value is not necessarily sexist. It's just a body part. But I think that Kate6 was referring to the general atmosphere that these kinds of jokes are a result of. I've worked on a project in the past that involved an IT company, and I spent quite a bit of time in their office working with them. They have about a 50/50 mix of men and women, mostly in their late 20's, early 30's, new parents or soon-to-be parents. Over lunch, people talk about kids and related issues, news, sports, or even on occasion technology. I'm sure that nobody there would have even thought of naming a debug value like this. Not thought of it and suppressed it in the name of professionalism, it just wouldn't have occurred to them.
  Reading all these +5 comments about how women just have to stop being so wimpy, and about how a good working environment is one where you can be yourself without having to worry about political correctness, paints a picture in my mind of a very different kind of company. One where all the employees are nerds with limited personal skills who like it when everybody else is just like that, so that they can safely extend puberty by another year without their environment confronting them with the fact that it's really time to grow up. I'm not a woman (and I would agree that the society I live in is now trending a bit too much towards a matriarchy), but it seems to me that the main issue that women have with the geek-IT-culture is that they get tired of the immaturity in general. Sexism is just a major symptom, and often the last straw, which is why you hear about it more.
  As for political correctness, it's mainly about personal communication skills. This is something that's just really difficult for everyone, and something that geeks find even more difficult than others. The key to good communication is to know your audience, and adapt to them. If your idea of communication is "I want to say whatever I want in whatever way that I want to say it, and those listening will have to adapt" then you've already lost. You can argue about whether that's right or not until you're blue in the face, but that's the way it is, that's the way Homo sapiens works. So next time you meet someone with different ideas of what is acceptable to say, or who seems to understand something very different from what you're saying, ask them questions, try to listen and try to understand the world they're living in. You don't have to make it yours, or agree with anything, but try. As a former no-social-skills nerd, I've learned a lot from that, and I've also found that those humans occupying the big blue room outside the basement are actually quite a varied and interesting bunch, maybe even more so than computers :-). And yes, that there are people who just have an axe to grind. Let them be, they usually have enough problems of their own.
200. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Evtim · 2012-07-19 21:55 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Mod parent +1 000 000! How many articles we have read saying that the modern, educated male has little to do with the "patriarch" image. Damn it, wasn't there a study finding that modern males are in fact becoming ever more responsible and less cheating! You know, exactly those urban types to which our grandparents were saying that we would rot in hell for living "in the big sin cities" of today! You know the grandparents who were REALLY sexists and fucked around so much that they would put a shame to an urban Casanova of today...
  On a related note here is on of my warmest family memory so far:
  We are in a plane. I am sitting in the middle seat, next to the window is a dude, my wife sits next to the walk (my left). The stewardess arrives with hot drinks (tea and coffee). The safest way of distributing hot drinks is to start with the person next to the window, then the middle....All the three of us instinctively sensed this so the dude sitting next to the window reaches first, I go second and my wife - third. At that moment the stewardess scolds me and the dude for "leaving the woman last instead of letting her first" upon which my wife looks coolly at her and says "I though we are equal"
  The face of the stewardess after the retort - priceless!
201. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Tom · 2012-07-19 22:27 · Score: 1
  
  If a woman was going around bragging about her conquests she'd be labelled a slut and people would talk shit on her, while the dude, after being called a pig, is applauded.
  The actual truth (study exists, I don't have a link ready, Google Scholar is your friend) is that there is a small difference in the number of "acceptable" sex partners for males and females. The study was looking for how many sex partners people judge as "too few" in someone else (as in they're considered inexperienced, etc.) and how many people judge as "too many" in others (as in being slutty or fucking everything that moves) and thus the range of a "good" amount of partners you've had.
  The number is indeed higher for man. However, it is nowhere near as extreme as the quote above makes it.
  
  You don't see the impact of patriarchal society because you don't experience the effects.
  That's nonsense. By definitions, members of the patriarch "class" would have to experience the effects. If your theory is that one type of people lords over and oppresses the other, then both types necessarily are affected by this interaction.
  You can claim that the oppressors have brainwashed themselves into considering their actions as normal, but you can't claim they don't experience them.
  
  The same way that many white people feel that there is no such thing as institutionalized racism in North America because they don't experience it.
  That's nonsense, too. Most of the white people who seriously think racism doesn't exist live in areas with very few blacks, so they are not exposed to racism not by being white, but by there simply not being a lot of racism around to be experienced.
  Females, on the other hand, are neither a minority nor are they especially unevenly distributed. You don't have whole states with very few women.
  
  If the comment in the code were 'slanty eyes' nobody would be disputing it's racist nature, but because this is an issue of sexism it's ignored. There is a societal bias against women, the same as there's one against minorities.
  There's a difference between denying women the right to vote and picking a variable name in a childish manner, and if you don't see that then I feel very sorry for you, because you will be fighting a lot of pointless battles and miss the important ones.
  
  Just like institutionalized racism isn't a lynch mob lookin' to hang someone any more, it's being watched by security in a store for being black.
  Which a good security guard will do, because crime statistics do in fact indicate a slightly higher rate depending on race (i.e. not just blacks, but also whites, asians, etc. have slightly but statistically significant different rates).
  Racism (just like the oppression of women) has long-term consequences that in parts form self-fulfilling prophecies. Due to racism, blacks - on average - get worse education, worse jobs and worse pay, three important factors impacting crime.
  Same is true of women - many of the current gender inequalities are not caused by active, current patriarchal oppression, but are the lingering after-effects of former such. Female student numbers in professions that have been considered "typical male" have been increasing constantly for decades. But even if you were to somehow make them 50/50 (or 49/51, considering the actual gender distribution in most western countries) today, it would be many years until the number of people holding those jobs would equal out. Half a decade, roughly.
  That people pick on tiny, unimportant, boring transgressions like a variable name is to my eyes solid evidence that there is nothing more important left to do on the gender equality issue. If that is the impression you want to create, then go ahead and whine about variable names.
  
  --
  Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
202. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ByOhTek · 2012-07-19 22:35 · Score: 1
  
  But they are Linux Kernel developers, it is the only place they'll see big boobs without paying for it. Now they are being deprived.
  
  --
  Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
203. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ByOhTek · 2012-07-19 22:36 · Score: 1
  
  :-(
  So I have to delete my music player on Android to please vegetarians and PETA?
  
  --
  Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
204. Re:0xB16B00B5 by galanom · 2012-07-19 22:40 · Score: 1
  
  Doesn't matter. All your base are belong to us!
205. Re:0xB16B00B5 by L4t3r4lu5 · 2012-07-19 23:05 · Score: 1
  
  So you're saying that people react differently in certain situations, and that being able to discern who will appreciate a joke and who will go overboard on the disciplinary procedures is fundamental to a healthy office environment?
  
  +5 Insightful, man!
  
  --
  Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
206. Re:0xB16B00B5 by queBurro · 2012-07-19 23:37 · Score: 1
  
  kertish...
  
  --
  sag
207. Re:0xB16B00B5 by hlavac · 2012-07-19 23:43 · Score: 1
  
  127.0.0.1 is narcist :)
208. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Yogs · 2012-07-20 00:41 · Score: 1
  
  That's why we only hire non-religious people, people who aren't afraid of bad language, rough attitudes, bad smells, and that usually translates to people that isn't afraid of hard work either.
  Spoken as an orthodox Jew I'll happily take you on a tour of bad language (Yiddish is really good for expressing put-downs), rough attitudes (for instance, toward ignorant putzes like yourself of course :) ), bad smells (consider for a moment a bunch of bearded men in long coats and top hats after a walk in summer who couldn't do a hot water shower that morning or the night before crammed together talking incessantly while eating creamed pickled herring and drinking cheap whiskey), and hard work (having the Sabbath, a REAL escape lets you do this).
  Perhaps undermined the last point reading AND posting to slashdot, but no more than the parent...
209. Re:0xB16B00B5 by BeanThere · 2012-07-20 01:32 · Score: 1
  
  Didn't you hear? A woman might feel uncomfortable. Don't you just see how this is an emergency of the highest order? Call the fire brigade, the media, the police --- everyone stop doing what they're doing right now --- a woman somewhere might be feeling uncomfortable ! Discomfort! Do you not get how serious this is? I said "discomfort". If you aren't shocked, just shocked I tell you, you must also be sexist. We must at all costs protect the most vulnerable and spiritually sublime members of society, our wymen, from ever having to experience that most horrific sensation, 'discomfort', at the hands of this great evil, namely men who think 'boob' references in code warrants a snicker.
210. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Hatta · 2012-07-20 03:07 · Score: 1
  
  Perhaps more social, but no less boring or devoid of respect. That's where the GP was wrong. Women aren't smart enough to avoid boring disresepcted jobs.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
211. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Agent0013 · 2012-07-20 03:09 · Score: 2
  
  I find that interesting because as I hinted to, I've experienced the same thing from a male's perspective, from my own family. I experience gender bias all the time from people who proudly label themselves "feminists." They make generalizations about men, they side with my wife every time the two of us have a dispute and we seek support from family, they speak for me as if they know what I'm going to do and the false assumptions they make are based on the fact that I have a penis. Women think they know what I'm thinking and what my intentions are just because I'm a man. So I know exactly how it feels and I do experience it, only I experience it from the same people who complaining about it most vocally.
  That's what I was alluding to when I said "... I don't see it. In fact, I see the trend going in the opposite direction." and "the complete double-standard backwardness that has been instituted in the name of 'feminism.'"
  My wife and I were talking about this issue just the other day. She was remarking on how many of the active or vocal feminists are more anti-male than really out for equality. Pretty much any feminist blog will be very anti-male. I must admit I don't read many feminist blogs, so I could be completely wrong on this assertion. I do remember one though that was very hateful to men. And like you mentioned, they assume all men are like their imagined evil oppressor.
  I think all the groups pushing to change things experience this. At the beginning they wanted voting rights and equality in pay and treatment. As they get some of those things they don't disband. The make new goal posts and demands. MADD just keeps asking for lower blood alcohol levels until having a breath mint can get you arrested. If you never decide things are good enough, then you just keep pushing until you have ridiculous actions. Feminists wanting all men destroyed and PETA thinking all domesticated pets would be better off killed than living with loving homes.
  
  --
  
  -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
212. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cpu6502 · 2012-07-20 03:10 · Score: 1
  
  My dad used to clean offices, and I'd help. The office used Wang computers. There were jokes all over the office BY women to other women about how Lisa's husband loves his Wang, or Julie needs at leat 8 hours a day with her wang to feel satisfied.
  I doubt the men at this engineering office had any objections. (Else they would have stopped it.)
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
213. Re:0xB16B00B5 by LittleImp · 2012-07-20 03:25 · Score: 1
  
  You would already have to be a programmer to understand that. So this is definitely not the reason why there are so few female programmers.
214. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ciderbrew · 2012-07-20 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  They talk about base 69; but never get there.
215. Re:0xB16B00B5 by overmod · 2012-07-20 04:24 · Score: 1
  
  Please tell me what the digit "M" denotes in hex...
216. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Reziac · 2012-07-20 04:26 · Score: 1
  
  So play the game instead. Insert your own comments that translate to "small dicks".
  
  --
  ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
217. Re:0xB16B00B5 by overmod · 2012-07-20 04:30 · Score: 2
  
  If it's a Ball-mer reference, would you not use 0xB16BA775
  Which, come to think of it, is a correct eight-digit hex reference that MS could use to be 'equal-opportunity sexist'...
218. Re:0xB16B00B5 by overmod · 2012-07-20 04:33 · Score: 1
  
  ... a large established corporation founded and largely staffed by people who used to be teenagers writing operating systems in their parents' basements? ...
219. Re:0xB16B00B5 by athenaprime · 2012-07-20 04:34 · Score: 1
  
  I find that interesting because as I hinted to, I've experienced the same thing from a male's perspective, from my own family. I experience gender bias all the time from people who proudly label themselves "feminists." They make generalizations about men, they side with my wife every time the two of us have a dispute and we seek support from family, they speak for me as if they know what I'm going to do and the false assumptions they make are based on the fact that I have a penis. Women think they know what I'm thinking and what my intentions are just because I'm a man. So I know exactly how it feels and I do experience it, only I experience it from the same people who complaining about it most vocally.
  What you may perceive as "gender bias" might actually be "lack of (unconscious) privilege." Sexism is both individual and institutional/societal. Some of it is perpetuated by individuals, such as the "B16B00B5" thing, and some is perpetuated by institutional assumptions and practices (who gets the "benefit of the doubt" more often, or which gender acts as the "baseline" by which both genders are measured).
  Some of it is correctable by individuals--do not engage in overtly or covertly sexist behavior, be considerate to other people, etc. Some of it is systemic, and can only be recognized by individuals--be aware of your assumptions and whether or not they are based on gender, be aware of societal treatment can be biased. And some of it can be approached only when a critical mass of individuals recognize and acknowledge the biases that exist before attempting to craft solutions.
  It doesn't have to be a zero-sum game.
220. Re:0xB16B00B5 by russotto · 2012-07-20 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  They have about a 50/50 mix of men and women, mostly in their late 20's, early 30's, new parents or soon-to-be parents. Over lunch, people talk about kids and related issues, news, sports, or even on occasion technology. I'm sure that nobody there would have even thought of naming a debug value like this. Not thought of it and suppressed it in the name of professionalism, it just wouldn't have occurred to them.
  Really? So once you have kids or are about to, you simply lose the desire to make dumb jokes? Wow.
  
  Reading all these +5 comments about how women just have to stop being so wimpy, and about how a good working environment is one where you can be yourself without having to worry about political correctness, paints a picture in my mind of a very different kind of company. One where all the employees are nerds with limited personal skills who like it when everybody else is just like that, so that they can safely extend puberty by another year without their environment confronting them with the fact that it's really time to grow up.
  Except the company in question is Microsoft. Not exactly a favorite of Slashdot's hordes of basement-dwelling socially-challenged geeks. About as staid and respectable a company as you'll find in the business, perhaps excepting IBM (which is where 0xdeadbeef came from, BTW. IBM also uses 0xdeadbabe, but maybe that's not sexism; it could just be because there's no 'y')
  Perhaps the socially-challenged basement-dwelling geeks have a point about oversensitivity and whinyness. Perhaps "growing up" doesn't have to mean becoming a humorless automaton not above leaving little jokes in the code for others to find. Maybe I'm just an immature nerd myself, but the first time I saw a stack dump start with "deadbeef badfca11", I thought it was pretty funny.
  
  but it seems to me that the main issue that women have with the geek-IT-culture is that they get tired of the immaturity in general.
  But if you say "sexism" the guys in question are automatically wrong. If you say "immaturity" there can be reasonable disagreement.
  BTW, if any woman feels like using the hex constant 0xd1c41e55, I won't be offended (but of course my position as a card-carrying member of the patriarchy means that's my privilege). Handy tip for slipping shit past the radar: put it in decimal. Or endian-reversed.
221. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Reziac · 2012-07-20 05:02 · Score: 1
  
  I remember when that's how work was in the U.S. too, where you could concentrate on your job and not on trying to offend no one. Kudos to you, you are preserving a way of life and thought that's being lost. A reflection of lost freedoms in general, I think. :(
  
  --
  ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
222. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Phoghat · 2012-07-20 05:19 · Score: 1
  
  Excuse me but could someone clarify how is "big boobs" sexist phrase? It might mean either gender. For statistical reasons I can verify that my own boobs are often larger than I see on females.
  frankly, since just about every woman of my aquaintance has used that phrase, and more than once I might add, I'm puzzled. Yes, shocked and puzzled. Must be a slow news da, when is /. going to post pics of LolCats??
  
  --
  Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
223. Re:0xB16B00B5 by FatdogHaiku · 2012-07-20 05:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  They talk about base 69; but never get there.
  The heartbreak of premature enumeration...
  
  --
  You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
224. Re:0xB16B00B5 by cavebison · 2012-07-20 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  Or maybe you are being overly sensitive.
  With reference to a particular South Park episode, I tend to think the kind of guy who can't understand why women might find this sort of thing objectionable is comparable to the kind of white American who can't understand what it means to be a black American. That is, most white people; or, in this case, most males.
  Just face it - you don't get it. Neither do I, but I don't use that as the basis for saying someone else is over-reacting.
225. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Metabolife · 2012-07-20 05:47 · Score: 1
  
  So if you found NIGNOGS written in your code. Is that racist or just inappropriate? What about if written by a black programmer?
  If racist, ask yourself what the difference is between this and BIGBOOBS.
226. Re:0xB16B00B5 by russotto · 2012-07-20 05:54 · Score: 1
  
  I think working as a programmer should only require that you be *good at writing code*. It shouldn't matter how sensitive or insensitive you are, and it shouldn't matter how much capacity you have for handling stress coming from having blatantly insensitive, domineering coworkers.
  You belie yourself. If it "shouldn't matter" how insensitive you are, the same should apply to your coworkers, yet you're objecting to their insensitivity. And if you think there isn't stress from dealing with ridiculously oversensitive hair-trigger offended-by-everything coworkers, either you are one or you've never dealt with such a person.
227. Re:0xB16B00B5 by mcgrew · 2012-07-20 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  YOU, son, are the problem. You care nothing about others' feelings whatever. Let me explain by transposition what you just wrote and you'll see what an ass you are..
  Didn't you hear him say "nigger"? A black man might feel uncomfortable. Don't you just see how this is an emergency of the highest order? Call the fire brigade, the media, the police --- everyone stop doing what they're doing right now --- a black somewhere might be feeling uncomfortable ! [sic] Discomfort! Do you not get how serious this is? I said "discomfort". If you aren't shocked, just shocked I tell you, you must also be racist. We must at all costs protect the most vulnerable and spiritually sublime members of society, our blacks, from ever having to experience that most horrific sensation, 'discomfort', at the hands of this great evil, namely men who think 'nigger' references in code warrants a snicker.
  You're an adolescent pig. Grow the fuck up. I would NOT want to hire a moron like you.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
228. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Tharkkun · 2012-07-20 06:07 · Score: 1
  
  It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortable. As such, it contributes to the feeling that Linux kernel development is an area in which women aren't welcome... And believe it or not, sort of thing is the reason why there are so few female programmers. Our "tiny female brains" can cope with the actual work *just fine*. :)
  
  Intellectually you can cope with it, but not psychologically. Women can't stand being told no.
229. Re:0xB16B00B5 by mcgrew · 2012-07-20 06:10 · Score: 1
  
  As a literate, I'm offended by your sticking an apostrophe where it doesn't belong. Are all of you twits high school dropouts??
  Hint: there is no such thing as free'd. It's simply "freed". Now go get your GED.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
230. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Alsee · 2012-07-20 06:24 · Score: 1
  
  I may be a pretty sad case, but I don't write jokes in base 36!
  -
  
  --
  - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
231. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Alsee · 2012-07-20 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  BDSM programmers do it with hexadecimal gags.
  -
  
  --
  - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
232. Re:0xB16B00B5 by airdweller · 2012-07-20 07:12 · Score: 1
  
  Uncomfortable? Why? It's childish and unprofessional, but is it offensive? It's not a curse word. It's not an insult. It's not even directed at someone in particular. Is it possible that you are overly sensitive? My reaction would be "Grow up, dude. Oh, and I want this gone by 4pm."
  Am I missing something?
233. Re:0xB16B00B5 by marcello_dl · 2012-07-20 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  > It's sexist in that if a very talented woman programmer was going around hacking in the kernel and found it, it might make her feel uncomfortabe.
  If she has small boobs. If she has plenty, she would think "F*ck yea" and it would make her day :)
  Seems a dangerous precedent, though. If I see a comment from a guy with the same name of the cat which was roadkilled recently, I'd feel uncomfortable too.
  Or what if a cleverly coded routine puts all programmers @ MS or Google to shame? Should it be rewritten to make those guys more confident?
  Are you sure that this represents the nation your founding fathers had in mind?
  
  --
  ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
234. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2012-07-20 08:27 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, but not like in Scott Pilgrim.
  It's just a flaw, Picky Eater. Taking it once puts you on a vegetarian diet, twice puts you on a vegan diet. So you can pick up two feats pretty easily if you're willing to put up with some logistics problems when you go out to dinner.
  
  --
  
  ---
  ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
235. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-20 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  i agree it is inappropriate for them to be constants
  instead they should be variables...such as in c/c++ you could have:
  short dick;
  long dick;
236. Re:0xB16B00B5 by uninformedLuddite · 2012-07-20 11:56 · Score: 1
  
  I am a guy and teenage girls often look at my rack wistfully
  
  --
  The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
237. Re:0xB16B00B5 by surd1618 · 2012-07-20 12:13 · Score: 1
  
  I mostly agree with you, but as a male born after 1980, I see a *lot* of patriarchy happening. Many many times I have seen men treating women like trophies, especially around alcohol. I mean, in public, up front, like talking about their 'girl friend' seated right next to them in the third person, about how dumb she is. It drives me nuts.
  
  But yeah then there are 'feminists' who are actually seeking attention, and/or using 'feminism' as a tool to cut and paste their social circles to their liking. No joke: I have watched a female go through *dozens* of quick relationships, only to have her lacky call out each fellow as a 'misogynist' in turn. Who did she settle on? The most monied dude to come along was a perfect gentleman as far as the 'feminist' was concerned!
238. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  You are awesome. Also, I hope "my sexy bitches" is copyleft, because I start using it monday morning :)
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
239. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:25 · Score: 1
  
  Brofist from Argentina.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
240. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:31 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you. After this post, I actually got like 10 emails from people saying they want to work at my company, and like another 15 emails from angry christians asking for my company name ;)
  Some people will love it, others will hate it. We (my associate and me) try to keep it that way for those that love it. It's our little island in this stupid PC world.
  I think it works fine because it goes both ways. Usually, the boss takes a few liberties, and everybody has to deal with it, but if you do the same, you are in big trouble. At our office, everybody enjoys the same privileges. Also, everybody works hard, and isn't afraid of getting their hands dirty. Both my associate and me code, and when we sit down with the coders we actually know what we are talking about (I have 15 years of experience as a Unix sysadmin and coder, and my associate has 20+ years of experience as a graphics guru, having worked for major players such as SGI), but I often also go to check on one of our techies working at a customer site, and I don't mind getting into a cramped mechanical floor and helping them out. It also goes both ways when it comes to fooling around.
  True story: Couple of months ago, two guys from IT where installing the CCTV system at our new offices, and they where having fun throwing shit at each other (such as video baluns and old BNC connectors they where removing), so I pass by and hit one of them with a patch core (playfully, nothing bad). He turns around to hit me back, and actually hits me with a bnc octopus (a badass cable that has a db25 on one side, and 8 BNC on the other side), he didn't mean it, but he hit me square in the face, with so much force he actually screwed me up. I look at him laughing it off, and he just turns blue, I touch my face and I'm bleeding all over the place. I had a deep 2cm cut on my nose. I laughed it off, went to the bath, cleaned up and went to a meeting. Later at launch I waited for him to be distracted and dropped an entire bag of powdered black pepper in his coke. "Now we are even, bitch!".
  That's why nobody can get mad at me when I troll them. They all know the rules, they all have fun, and they all know we are equals. When the structure is HORIZONTAL, and not VERTICAL, you can be the most productive while still actually enjoying your job.
  That's why nobody can tell me I'm out of place when I troll them at work. They know they are allowed to do the same.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
241. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:35 · Score: 1
  
  You'll have to move to Argentina.
  If you ever do, mail me.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
242. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:36 · Score: 1
  
  hahaha. Move to Argentina, then mail me.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
243. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:48 · Score: 1
  
  A christian can't be a good coder. The main skill a coder requires is CRITICAL THINKING and A SOLID LOGICAL MIND, both things are incompatible with christianity.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
244. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:55 · Score: 1
  
  I stopped reading at I'm catholic. That's where you should have stopped writing too. If you can't realize, in the year 2012, that there is no god, you shouldn't really be on the internet. And you are certainly too weak-minded to work for us.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
245. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 12:57 · Score: 1
  
  Move to Argentina. Then mail me.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
246. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-20 13:01 · Score: 1
  
  Well, sure, as a religious person you can fart as loud as any atheist. But there is something that atheists have that makes them great coders: LOGIC.
  Any reasonably smart person capable of critical thinking and understanding logic doesn't believe in any imaginary guys in the sky. If you do, it shows a deep flaw in your mentality, and makes you unfit to work for me.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
247. Re:0xB16B00B5 by hairyfeet · 2012-07-20 13:49 · Score: 1
  
  The problem is we on the outside frankly have NO idea what they've actually made or lost, because they can use sales of the two sacred cows to cover for losses in other parts of the company.
  For example one could make the case that the X360 hasn't made a dime. oh they SAY it has, said its been in the black for over 2 years, but does that count the 2 billion plus they had to pay to replace RRoD machines? Does it count the R&D? what about the XBox 1, does it include all the money they lost on it?
  The simple facts are we don't know and may never know, and the fact they have posted their first losss means they aren't getting enough out of their sacred cows to cover all the dumb moves Ballmer makes anymore. can you tell me how much they lost on Zune? What about the Kin? How much did they lose in license fees when they killed playsforsure? How much have they lost on search? Frankly losing 6.2 billion is probably the tip of the iceberg compared to how much Ballmer has actually blown but without access to the books we'll simply never know.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
248. Re:0xB16B00B5 by metrix007 · 2012-07-20 14:33 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sorry, but that argument is always just BS.
  A person does not have to personally experience or suffer from an issue to understand the issue. The people who suffer may/will understand in greater detail and/or have a greater perspective. That does not mean those who only observe cannot understand the issue also, albeit to a lesser degree.
  Whenever that argument is made in racism/feminism discussions it is a copout. Oh, you're not female so you could not possibly understand. It insults the intelligence of the person making the argument that you don't wish to respond to, and makes you look incompetent in not addressing the issue.
  Words can explain things. Like I just did now. It's a nice advantage of having a high level language. Try using that advantage sometime.
  
  --
  If you ignore ACs because they are anonymous - you're an idiot.
249. Re:0xB16B00B5 by dimeglio · 2012-07-21 13:45 · Score: 1
  
  LoL, MS should also appologise to the trannies for mSEXchange.
  
  --
  Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
250. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Runaway1956 · 2012-07-21 16:16 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, I can see that it might make a woman uncomfortable to be reminded of her breasts during work hours. I have chicken legs, and I'm easily embarrassed by references to legs. And, I have a pot belly, so I'm offended by phat references. And, I'm color blind, so offended when they start using color coded charts and other such crap.
  Actually, I can't understand. Get used to the idea that you have breasts, Kate, and get used to the idea that guys generally prefer breasts over some other things - like being poked in the eye with a sharp stick. And, get over yourself, alright? If you stop programming because guys put some silly shit like "bigboobs" someplace where you can read it - then you weren't really interested in programming anyway.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
251. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Runaway1956 · 2012-07-21 16:21 · Score: 1
  
  Paulo and Matthew are probably insecure, immature suckups looking for a pat on the head from their feminist associates. That - and they are afraid of big boobs.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
252. Re:0xB16B00B5 by exomondo · 2012-07-22 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  So if you found NIGNOGS written in your code. Is that racist or just inappropriate? What about if written by a black programmer?
  If racist, ask yourself what the difference is between this and BIGBOOBS.
  How would that even be considered racist? These things obviously need context for them to be racist or sexist or whatever.
253. Re:0xB16B00B5 by boaworm · 2012-07-22 15:46 · Score: 1
  
  I only knew of first, second and third base. There are another 33?!
  
  --
  Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.
  Aristotele
254. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-23 12:44 · Score: 1
  
  4 major products developed over the course of 5 years. We released a total of 173 new versions for those systems since 2008. Our most popular product, the only HTML5 CCTV DVR that works out of the box on Android, iOS, and all major browsers is handling over 17.000 cameras installed nationwide. Our e-learning platform is handling more than half a million students.
  You can be productive and still have fun.
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
255. Re:0xB16B00B5 by GNUALMAFUERTE · 2012-07-23 12:46 · Score: 1
  
  Also, our company has consistently doubled its net income every fiscal year since 2009, and we've managed to finance our own growth without any kind of external financing (no venture capital, no loans)
  
  --
  WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
256. Re:0xB16B00B5 by thomthegoose · 2012-07-23 13:35 · Score: 1
  
  It is also sexist to think that it wasn't a female programmer who put it there originally.
257. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ConceptJunkie · 2012-07-24 00:23 · Score: 1
  
  Well, see that's the problem. 90% of so-called "feminists" give the other 10% a bad name. Just because "feminism" has been subverted into some kind of liberal pseudo-religion that ties into just about every bad idea and philosophy that's been invented in the past two centuries doesn't mean that there isn't still real sexism in the workplace and in society in general.
  It's kind of like the anti-abortion extremists who advocate (or worse, engage in) violence in support of their cause. They do more harm to their cause than they could ever understand.
  The only thing you can do is try to treat people decently, and ignore the hypocrites and wild-eyed zealots and the people (and there are many of them) who are not fighting for equality, but for payback.
  
  --
  You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
258. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ConceptJunkie · 2012-07-24 00:55 · Score: 1
  
  To me, the controversy about this particular constant is not so much that it would be offensive to women, although that's certainly the case, but that it's crude and unprofessional. There are plenty of ways to be crude and unprofessional that aren't offensive specifically to women. People shouldn't do those those kinds of things. Things don't have to offend you personally to still be offensive, and you don't have to be a member of the political correctness gestapo to want folks to hold a certain level of decorum in how they comport themselves.
  As a woman in a field that skews very heavily male, this particular instance situation is made that much worse for you, and I sympathize with you, and agree with your complaints. You are 100% correct. But if, for some really contrived reason, this constant had been used in a situation such that it was completely impossible that a woman would never see it, that wouldn't make it any less unacceptable.
  But the issue is a little more broad than just offending women (or a minority of some type), it goes more to the idea of just acting professionally.
  Now, I feel slightly hypocritical making these comments because I am a big joker, and despite the fact that I would never intentionally try to offend someone while trying to be funny, I'm sure it's happened. Humor is almost always at least slightly risky, and while I cut people (or TV or movies) slack when they are trying to be funny, and much more so if they really are, I also don't see that as an excuse or a get-out-of-jail-free card when you do cross the line.
  On the flip side, there will always be people that go out of their way to be offended at anything, and the only remedy for people like that is to continue to offend them until they go away. We live in a pluralistic society in the U.S.. It's literally built into our Constitution. To me, the person who has excessively thin skin is just as much a problem as, if not more than, the person who makes offensive jokes.
  It's never a cut-and-dried situation, but it's also usually not so hard to comport yourself in a way that avoids unnecessarily offending people and in a way that generally allows you to get along with folks. That this constant was a bad idea is a no-brainer.
  
  --
  You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
259. Re:0xB16B00B5 by ConceptJunkie · 2012-07-24 00:58 · Score: 1
  
  Can't mod because I commented but this make me LOL.
  
  --
  You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
260. Re:0xB16B00B5 by Nikker · 2012-07-26 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  I am offended by your post.
  
  --
  A loop, by its nature, continues. If that didn't make sense, start reading this sentence again.
261. Re:0xB16B00B5 by overmod · 2012-07-27 02:59 · Score: 1
  
  Oddly enough, Microsoft already has used the 'reverse' sexist example in .net code: BEEFCACE.
  I don't see male programmers complaining in droves that this degrades males, even though it 'does'.
  I would be more than a little surprised if any woman programmer 'talented' enough to find this in the kernel would find a magic number related to breast size 'uncomfortable'. Much more likely that she'd laugh at the immaturity of whoever put it there... and move on to analysis or coding as appropriate.
262. Re:0xB16B00B5 by MikeBabcock · 2012-08-01 07:54 · Score: 1
  
  I once got hired to do "computer, fax, phone and all other man work" by a company large enough to have unionized workers and a real HR department.
  While actual sexual discrimination exists, being upset that every subtle comment is an attempt to push women into a traditional role is more a lack of self-esteem than an observation of reality. I wish every woman who felt that way in those situations would just own up and turn back to the person who said the offensive comment and ask bluntly, "do you have a problem with me in this role?" Some of them will admit that yes they do, and a lot will say 'no, I just thought it was funny.'
  Get over it is relevant to women, fat people (I'm one of those), men who lose their hair prematurely (got that one too) and tall people who walk into things sometimes (yup, that too). Sorry, I'm not a woman, so (because of sexism, ironically) I don't get to claim to understand where they're coming from on these issues.
  PS If its really so different for women to take jokes than for men, then the sexists are right.
  
  --
  - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by crazyjj · 2012-07-19 07:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

Seems like just yesterday it was just immature. Soon even the word "sexist" will be sexist.

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
1. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Robert+Zenz · 2012-07-19 07:44 · Score: 1
  
  Beef is chicken?! You should stop going to McDonalds.
2. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by NFN_NLN · 2012-07-19 08:03 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I wonder if PETA will complain about 0xDEADBEEF?
  I've seen that used often.
3. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by camperdave · 2012-07-19 08:09 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Personally, I find it offensive that big boobs is now sexist. What about us guys with big boobs?
  I'm pretty sure most would find that offensive as well.
  
  --
  When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
4. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:14 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Just to stop the crap, here's the rest from wikipedia.
  Many computer processors, operating systems, and debuggers make use of magic numbers, especially as a magic debug value.
  0x8BADF00D ("ate bad food") is used by Apple in iOS crash reports, when an application takes too long to launch, terminate, or respond to system events.[1]
  0x1BADB002 ("I bad boot"[citation needed]) Multiboot header magic number.[2]
  0xB16B00B5 ("big boobs") is required by Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor to be used by Linux guests as their "guest signature".[3]
  0xBAADF00D ("bad food") is used by Microsoft's LocalAlloc(LMEM_FIXED) to indicate uninitialised allocated heap memory when the debug heap is used.[4]
  0xBADDCAFE ("bad cafe") is used by Libumem to indicate uninitialized memory area
  0xCAFEBABE ("cafe babe") is used by Mach-O to identify Universal object files, and by the Java programming language to identify Java bytecode class files.[5]
  0xCAFED00D ("Cafe Dude") is used by Java as a magic number for their pack200 compression.[6]
  0xD15EA5E ("disease") is a flag that indicates regular boot on the Nintendo GameCube and Wii consoles.[7][8]
  0xDEADBABE ("Dead Babe") is used by IBM Jikes RVM as a sanity check of the stack of the primary thread [9]
  0xDEADBEEF ("dead beef") is frequently used to indicate a software crash or deadlock in embedded systems. DEADBEEF was originally used to mark newly allocated areas of memory that had not yet been initialized -- when scanning a memory dump, it is easy to see the DEADBEEF. It is used by IBM RS/6000 systems, Mac OS on 32-bit PowerPC processors and the Commodore Amiga as a magic debug value. On Sun Microsystems' Solaris, it marks freed kernel memory. On OpenVMS running on Alpha processors, DEAD_BEEF can be seen by pressing CTRL-T. The DEC Alpha SRM console has a background process that traps memory errors, identified by PS as "BeefEater waiting on 0xdeadbeef".[10]
  0xDEADDEAD ("dead dead") is the bug check (STOP) code displayed when invoking a Blue Screen of Death either by telling the kernel via the attached debugger, or by using a special keystroke combination.[11] This is usually seen by driver developers, as it is used to get a memory dump on Windows NT based systems. An alternative to 0xDEADDEAD is the bug check code 0x000000E2,[12] as they are both called MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASH as seen on the Microsoft Developer Network.
  0xDEADFA11 ("dead fall") is used by Apple in iOS crash reports, when the user force quits an application.[1]
  0xDEFEC8ED ("defecated") is the magic number for OpenSolaris core dumps.[13]
  0xFACEFEED ("face feed") is used by Alpha servers running Windows NT. The Alpha Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) generates this error when it encounters a hardware failure.[14]
  0xFEE1DEAD ("feel dead") is used as a magic number in the Linux reboot system call.[15]
  0xE011CFD0 is used as magic number for Microsoft Office files. In little endian this reads D0CF11E0, "docfile0".[16]
  0x0000000FF1CE ("office") is used as the last part of product codes (guid) for Microsoft Office components (visible in registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall registry key).
  0x00BAB10C ("oo-ba-block") is used as the magic number for the ZFS uberblock.
  C15C:0D06:F00D ("cisco dog food") used in the IPv6 address of www.cisco.com on World IPv6 Day. "Dog food" refers to Cisco eating its own dog food with IPv6.
  face:b00c ("facebook") used in the IPv6 address of www.v6.facebook.com
5. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Teppy · 2012-07-19 08:15 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Oh, there's a lot of things that are now considered insensitive that didn't used to be. For instance "idiot" and "imbecile" used to be clinically accepted ways of describing people with low IQ (0-25, and of 26-50 respectively.)
  
  My sister works in the mental health field and was horrified when I used the word "retarded" to describe a certain child. I believe the accepted term is now "differently tarded."
6. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Archangel+Michael · 2012-07-19 08:19 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  One of my favorites ... 0XBADCOFFE
  
  --
  Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
7. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by XiaoMing · 2012-07-19 08:22 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Soon even the word "sexist" will be sexist.
  Or vagina!
8. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Sebastopol · 2012-07-19 08:25 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  "seems like yesterday"
  That's called growing up.
  You have a little more to do, there, son.
  
  --
  https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
9. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by EdIII · 2012-07-19 08:40 · Score: 2
  
  I believe the accepted term is now "differently tarded."
  Thank you. I now have ice tea all over my monitors.
10. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Kalten · 2012-07-19 08:51 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Nah. 0xDECAFBAD.
11. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:57 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yes, many people seem to confuse things which are sexist with things which are just plain offensive or disrespectful for women.
  I agree with the latter half of our post, but I'm not sure I agree with that first bit. While the phrase may not be "sexist" in and of itself (it's fairly neutral, just an adjective and a noun put together), the culture and mindset which included it in a public submission to operating system code, and which held that it was *okay* to publish such juvenile humor in a public code base, could certainly be argued to be 'sexist.'
  A culture where things that are 'just plain offensive or disrespectful to women," are okay, normal, or mainstream can certainly be said to be a "sexist" culture. And a culture that allows juvenile, offensive-to-women humor in its discourse without calling it out and self-correcting is one which is most certainly "sexist."
12. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by tnk1 · 2012-07-19 09:22 · Score: 1
  
  I know people who work with the developmentally disabled, and their word for their clients while not in their presence is "tards". Since they actually chose to be in that field specifically to help those people live their lives successfully, it isn't because they hate them.
  Mostly, I think it's because government bureaucrats and politicians change the politically correct designation every few years so they just started getting annoyed. I recall they were required by the state to call them "clients", which changed to "individuals", which then changed to "consumers".
13. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by slippyblade · 2012-07-19 09:37 · Score: 2
  
  Some people just can't be un-tarded...
14. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by spire3661 · 2012-07-19 09:49 · Score: 1
  
  As an individual, it becomes tiresome to bear the weight of all society at all times. I dont want to think if my words, taken at face value and ouf of context hurt someone halfway round the world. I dont intentionally go to hurt people, but at the same time i am not going to continuously censor myself because we are all now globally connected. Someone got offended, good to know, but its not always a call for fucking action.
  
  --
  Good-bye
15. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Trailer+Trash · 2012-07-19 10:16 · Score: 1
  
  My favorite MAC address: c0:ff:ee:15:90:0d.
  
  --
  Do you have ESP?
16. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by makomk · 2012-07-19 11:03 · Score: 1
  
  Which is another reason why this is an example of sexism. Would you be willing to put in the effort to figure out whether what you say at work is likely to offend men as a group? Almost certainly, because enough of your coworkers are men that it'd make your life really uncomfortable if you genuinely did offend them, and because they're empowered to get pissed off - it's something we expect of men. The only reason you can get away with complaining about how you shouldn't have to care whether your words hurt someone is because the words in question are offensive to women, who are a minority within the tech industries and also have to worry about being perceived as "bitchy" or "humourless" or "frigid" if they object.
17. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by pipedwho · 2012-07-19 13:24 · Score: 1
  
  About 10 years ago, I was debugging some inherited code that we were given for an embedded database system. There was a header file with the magic numbers for various entities and positions. It quickly became obvious that they didn't do code reviews at that place. The reason I could tell:
  #define TEAM_SUPERVISOR 0x1BEA70FF
  True story.
18. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Requiem18th · 2012-07-19 17:49 · Score: 1
  
  And I am personalli offended by the gross disregard for proper grammar and ortography. I mean, how did "mentally retarded" managed to be truncated into "tard"? If the phrase is too long you could always say something else like "slow". YOu could easily say, "that kid is slow" and you even have the cover of whether you are talking about his head or his body. Ambiguity is great for softening or disguising uncomfortable terms.
  Back to "Big Boobs". Yes, the OP is right, these aren't sexist words. Immature perhaps but not sexist. The problem is the mentality that any mention of sexuality, specifically any expression motivated by male, heterosexual drives, constitues a violation of the basic human rights of all women.
  The scenarios is like this. Somebody is reading the kernel source...
  
  #include 'somelib.h'...blah blah blah...void set_pointer(int objectp... blah blah blah...0xB16B00B5...blah blah blah...Wait WHAT? Big boobs? BIG BOOBS!?? SOMEONE HERE LIKES BIG BOOBS!? THE ENTIRE KERNEL TEAM THINKS WOMEN ARE WORHTLESS ANIMALS ONLY VALUABLE AS SEXUAL SLAVES!!?? OMG LINUX IS KEEPING WOMEN IMPRISIONED IN SECRET SEX DUNGEONS!!!
  Or something like that.
  
  --
  But... the future refused to change.
19. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Hognoxious · 2012-07-19 17:51 · Score: 1
  
  It's like mongs. These days you have to call them dromers.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
20. Re:Wait, "big boobs" is sexist now? by Rich0 · 2012-07-19 23:51 · Score: 1
  
  The term for this is the "Euphemism Treadmill" - in numerous areas words which are made up to be politically correct end up becoming politically incorrect simply by becoming popular.
That's not sexist! by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 4, Funny

Ballmer's got 'em, after all.

--
#DeleteChrome
1. Re:That's not sexist! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:37 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  My first reaction to this thread was to "Gee, I wish Slashdot allowed for the posting of inline images."
  
  Ballmer's got 'em, after all.
  ...never mind.
2. Re:That's not sexist! by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-07-19 07:41 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Ballmer's got 'em, after all.
  No, he makes them . . . Vista . . . Windows Phone 7 . . .
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
3. Re:That's not sexist! by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-07-19 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  Well played, sir!
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
4. Re:That's not sexist! by gl4ss · 2012-07-19 08:04 · Score: 1
  
  Ballmer's got 'em, after all.
  No, he makes them . . . Vista . . . Windows Phone 7 . . .
  :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
  seriously though, to fill the junk character quota, they should have just said that it was just a random code. patching for _that_? pffffffffft.
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
5. Re:That's not sexist! by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-07-19 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  My first reaction to this thread was to "Gee, I wish Slashdot allowed for the posting of inline images.
  (.)(.)
  (Sorry, I just had to...)
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
6. Re:That's not sexist! by DeadCatX2 · 2012-07-19 11:21 · Score: 1
  
  Needs more cleavage.
  ( . )Y( . )
  
  --
  :(){ :|:& };:
If It Had Been Anyone Else by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

but Microsoft, the "Linux blogger" would have had a big laugh and thought how clever those Linux chaps are.
1. Re:If It Had Been Anyone Else by makomk · 2012-07-19 09:56 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Not really. Last I heard, Matthew Garrett was trying to get Stallman banned from speaking at various conferences over his sexist jokes. Microsoft has very little to do with it, except in so much as you might expect them to know better.
svn blame by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 1

gotta love source control
Well... by pinkj · 2012-07-19 07:35 · Score: 3, Funny

Obviously they put big boobs in to swell the kernel.
Re:why is microsoft so awful? by Mitchell314 · 2012-07-19 07:36 · Score: 1

I'm your stereotypical pro-linux, anti-MS geek, but I have to admit that I found this rather amusing.

--
I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
isn't this what they need more of? by v1 · 2012-07-19 07:36 · Score: 2

How better to attract more geeks to the kernel project, than promises of BIG BOOBS?

--
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Linux kernel's code is full of naughty words by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:37 · Score: 5, Informative

Just check the Linux kernel swear count: http://www.vidarholen.net/contents/wordcount/
1. Re:Linux kernel's code is full of naughty words by tapspace · 2012-07-19 08:43 · Score: 1
  
  Poongoon? ...
  is this why they think we're sexist in the tech industry? my bad, guys!
2. Re:Linux kernel's code is full of naughty words by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:03 · Score: 1
  
  The funny thing is that because of B16B00B5 the world will now learn that Microsoft is contributing to the Linux kernel.
Babecafe by unts · 2012-07-19 07:37 · Score: 3, Interesting

0xBABECAFE or 0xDEADBEEF are both slightly less controversial.
1. Re:Babecafe by nogginthenog · 2012-07-19 07:41 · Score: 2
  
  It's Microsoft, so don't forget C0DEDBAD!!
2. Re:Babecafe by blueg3 · 2012-07-19 07:48 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Don't forget 0xABAD1D34.
3. Re:Babecafe by tapspace · 2012-07-19 08:29 · Score: 2
  
  I literally just now saw 0xFEEDFACE in a microcontroller manual. I saw this not a half hour after seeing this story. The universe is crazy sometimes.
4. Re:Babecafe by Firehed · 2012-07-19 10:41 · Score: 1
  
  Well truth be told, if we're going to create an engineering culture to some demographic, I'd much prefer it to be hostile towards vegans rather than women :p
  
  --
  How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
5. Re:Babecafe by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 12:36 · Score: 1
  
  7 doesn't work in hex.
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
ZOMG!!11!!2! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:38 · Score: 1, Insightful

Sexism here: 0xB16B00B5
"Holy shit get out out the fainting couches! Somebody sue something!"
Sexism over there: women put to death for *being* raped
"Huh? Where? Eh..."
1. Re:ZOMG!!11!!2! by gl4ss · 2012-07-19 08:23 · Score: 1
  
  it's actually removed so that it can be exported to Iran, since mentioning big boobs is considered as pornography in Iran.
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
2. Re:ZOMG!!11!!2! by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 10:39 · Score: 1
  
  While in some parts of the world this is a very serious issue.
  Ah yes, the old "some shithole is worse that us so we've therefore got nothing to improve" argument.
  It is, of course, bullshit.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
3. Re:ZOMG!!11!!2! by freman · 2012-07-19 11:10 · Score: 1
  
  I wish I had mod points.
HyPerv? by Speare · 2012-07-19 07:40 · Score: 5, Funny

So now we will be calling it "Hy Perv"?
As with all of the feminist jokes, the punchline is: That's not funny!

--
[ .sig file not found ]
1. Re:HyPerv? by sconeu · 2012-07-19 08:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  As in...
  Q: How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?
  A: THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!!!
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Re:Big Boobs? by Githaron · 2012-07-19 07:41 · Score: 2

I think you are missing the K in hex. You the closest you get is 0xB16D1C5.
and the submitted patch changes the magic word to: by wierd_w · 2012-07-19 07:41 · Score: 1

0x61660705
Or, an even more cleverly written "giggolos".
No one will ever spot it!
We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by tapspace · 2012-07-19 07:41 · Score: 4, Insightful

Hey, we're supposed to be the good guys. Not the ones overreacting and lobbing thin accusations of "sexism". Who cares if it was Big Boobs? Everyone loves boobs! I like them all sizes :) Honestly, it's a magic number. Does it really matter?
1. Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:49 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It doesn't matter, and it's not sexist, it's childish. My wife has big boobs, she mentions that on occasion in a matter of fact way. At least one girl has come up to her, squeezed her boobs and said she has big boobs. Various girls do their best to post pictures of their big boobs on various social media sites, complete with cleavage. Acknowledging the existence and desirability of big boobs is hardly sexist, it's just a fact.
  That said, adults don't talk about big boobs, they find a girl attached to a large pair of breasts and then squeeze them when required. So this coder is guilty only of being a dork.
2. Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by GameboyRMH · 2012-07-19 08:05 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  At least one girl has come up to her, squeezed her boobs and said she has big boobs.
  I see. Could you tell us more about this incident?
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
3. Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  This sort of things is as big a deal as you make of it.
  I am a guy and have a good female friend at work who told me a couple times that she was annoyed I didn't pat her on the bottom. So I patted her. She smiled, said thanks, and that was it. She probably needed a quick boost in her self confidence. No muss, no fuss, no sexual harassment suit.
4. Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by tapspace · 2012-07-19 09:08 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think it's that childish even. I find it funny. That's the point of a magic number, spelling humorous things with what you have. It's a little childish, but it's not THAT childish because he just had to pick something anything (within the constraints).
5. Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by Lisias · 2012-07-19 09:48 · Score: 1
  
  Since some of the best programmers I know are dorks (females included), this is hardly a bad thing.
  
  --
  Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
6. Re:We're Supposed To Be The Good Guys by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 10:41 · Score: 1
  
  If I were you, I'd practice a bit more before writing into penthouse letters.
  By the way, /. probably isn't the best place to get feedback.
  HTH
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
Oh come on. by jerpyro · 2012-07-19 07:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

Ok, what Microsoft-hating oversensitive soapbox preacher thought "Hmm, Microsoft must be trying to sabotage our pristine kernel!!1!"
Programmers leave inside jokes. Usually in comments, sometimes variable names, and sometimes in arbitrary values. I'm sure more than one group had a good laugh about the thing on both sides of the wall. If I had a nickel for every time I saw a comment or variable name that could be interpreted as 'offensive' I'd be a rich man. As long as it's not directed at someone (I've seen those too) or hate speech of some kind, just let it go.
One of the reasons that I enjoy programming is because you can embed little jokes into the source without end users noticing -- they're like easter eggs.
Aaaand now feel free to wreck my karma, mods :-p
1. Re:Oh come on. by Cro+Magnon · 2012-07-19 07:54 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Just don't let the easter egg "hatch". I heard of someone at my job who included some text that shouldn't have been displayed in a section of code that WAS commented out - until someone else was working on it, uncommented the code, and saw his "funny" on the screen. The boss was not very amused.
  
  --
  Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
2. Re:Oh come on. by blind+biker · 2012-07-19 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  One of the reasons that I enjoy programming is because you can embed little jokes into the source without end users noticing -- they're like easter eggs.
  Or vagina.
  
  --
  "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
3. Re:Oh come on. by Nimey · 2012-07-19 08:38 · Score: 1
  
  I've heard of a programmer who, in some "can't happen" code, had it display the phrase "you are well and truly fucked".
  The code happened.
  
  --
  Hail Eris, full of mischief...
  
  E pluribus sanguinem
4. Re:Oh come on. by Darinbob · 2012-07-19 08:53 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  One product I worked on had an easter egg; just a picture of the development team (before my time) showing up on screen if you held down certain keys while booting. Sometime later a customer found this (after my time). The company had new owners and the new German management were not fun loving, and demanded it be removed. This was an older product still being maintained but with many original engineers being long gone.
  However none of the current engineers for the front end UI board knew anything about this stuff or how it got in there. They did a throrough code search and could not find anything that contained that picture or triggered it. None of the code that monitored the key presses seemed to do anything unusual and the boot up code was straight forward. Eventually someone found it after chasing down rumors. Turns out the easter egg was in a back end data processing board and the image was stored in ROM, key presses were monitored on the buss I think. Now the snag was that they couldn't just put in a software patch to fix this. I don't remember the details here but I think they had to leave the image in ROM but had some sort of firmware fix so that it wouldn't be activated.
5. Re:Oh come on. by Darinbob · 2012-07-19 08:54 · Score: 1
  
  "Can't happen" code will inevitably happen.
6. Re:Oh come on. by w_dragon · 2012-07-19 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  They blew a bunch of hours to track down and disable a harmless easter egg? I wish I could mod this +1 sad.
7. Re:Oh come on. by Darinbob · 2012-07-19 09:25 · Score: 1
  
  Well that's what happens when a certain giant German conglomerate buys your company and sends out their own managers to run it. This was the least of the sad things they did though.
8. Re:Oh come on. by antdude · 2012-07-19 12:21 · Score: 1
  
  I wonder what that "funny" showed. :P
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
9. Re:Oh come on. by ToddInSF · 2012-07-20 09:06 · Score: 1
  
  Sexism doesn't occur in a vacuum, and variable names that are sexist ARE part of the problem...
  
  But not QUITE as much of a problem as naming variables things that aren't functionally descriptive - bad code is just plain bad code.
  
  If you want to be a comedian, go do some stand-up at a comedy club, and leave the real work to the real pros.
Lets just cut to the chase and include an enormous by AmazingRuss · 2012-07-19 07:42 · Score: 1

0xB111111D
All better.
Just Grep the Kernel by Pat+Attack · 2012-07-19 07:43 · Score: 1

If you Grep the Linux kernel for curse words or slurs, you find many. Or at least, you used to. I haven't really checked since 2.6 The Fbomb will give you plenty of results.
1. Re:Just Grep the Kernel by Cro+Magnon · 2012-07-19 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  IIRC, Linus once said that he would reject patches if their sole purpose was to clean up the language in the kernel. No doubt it still has plenty of Fbombs.
  
  --
  Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
2. Re:Just Grep the Kernel by Gordonjcp · 2012-07-19 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  FWIW I've sacked people for saying "the f-bomb". Not "fuck" - it's perfectly okay to say "fuck" but literally "the f-bomb".
3. Re:Just Grep the Kernel by Pat+Attack · 2012-07-19 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I usually go for the gold, but for some reason I didn't this time. Weird. I encourage my boss to cuss, it's really hard to get him to do it. Yesterday he said "shit", I was thrilled.
4. Re:Just Grep the Kernel by Bill_the_Engineer · 2012-07-19 08:26 · Score: 2
  
  So you work at the TSA?
  
  --
  These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
Oh god no! by dyingtolive · 2012-07-19 07:44 · Score: 1

Quick everyone! Hyperventolate! Panic! THE HORROR! OH GNOWES!

--
Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
A warning sign by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:44 · Score: 1

You know it is time to get away from the computer more when hexadecimal porn starts looking attractive.
I have a new favorite 32-bit number by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-07-19 07:44 · Score: 1

n/t

--
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
MOOBS = man boobs. by xxxJonBoyxxx · 2012-07-19 07:45 · Score: 1

"Big Boobs" isn't as sexist as it is, er, sexist and/or weightist.
As long as it doesn't turn the evil bits back on our TCP packets, I'm fine with it.
Even more interesting... by X86Daddy · 2012-07-19 07:46 · Score: 2, Funny

I find it more interesting that 10-year-olds are committing code to the Linux kernel.
EDOOFUS by cant_get_a_good_nick · 2012-07-19 07:47 · Score: 2

Vaguely reminds me of the EDOOFUS "controversy" in the FreeBSD kernel.
I do kind of agree it's sexist, but it's so infantile, i almost say ignore it. I mean, boobs exist, some are big, some are small, some are medium. Guys have big boobs too, and some are big too (I already see Balmer references in this discussion). I almost say, pull the phrase, and let it die, and not be any worked up about it.
1. Re:EDOOFUS by techno-vampire · 2012-07-19 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  What's even more infantile is blaming Microsoft just because whoever did it works there. I'm no Microsoft fanboi, but I can't see any reason why the company as a whole should be held responsible for a childish prank by an employee. Are there really people out there so phulish that they think that whoever did this was told to by a manger or something?
  
  --
  Good, inexpensive web hosting
2. Re:EDOOFUS by marcosdumay · 2012-07-19 08:21 · Score: 1
  
  I do kind of agree it's sexist
  How so? How can you possibly claim that putting that phrase hidden in a magick number discriminates people?
  It is a childish, stupid, and bad joke. The only things you can't claim are that it is sexist, and that it is useless (yes those jokes are utilitarian, they make the number easy to remember).
  
  --
  Rethinking email
3. Re:EDOOFUS by Darinbob · 2012-07-19 08:56 · Score: 1
  
  This really sounds more like a case of someone trying to see if they can make Microsoft panic.
4. Re:EDOOFUS by cant_get_a_good_nick · 2012-07-20 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  The FreeBSD folks never had an issue. When Apple brought the code in, they didnt like EDOOFUS, and changed it to something else. My apologies for bad description - it should have read "Apple controversy over FreeBSD's EDOOFUS"
who fixes what ? by fluffythedestroyer · 2012-07-19 07:47 · Score: 1

Wait what ? Microsoft fixing a linux kernel code ? Hell, I don't want a bsod on my linux... I REFUSE TO TOUCH LINUX KERNEL FROM NOW ON... BEGONE MS
1. Re:who fixes what ? by Chrisq · 2012-07-19 08:39 · Score: 1
  
  Wait what ? Microsoft fixing a linux kernel code ? Hell, I don't want a bsod on my linux... I REFUSE TO TOUCH LINUX KERNEL FROM NOW ON... BEGONE MS
  Many Apple developers take it further, and refuse to ever touch big boobs.
2. Re:who fixes what ? by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-07-19 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  Don't worry. With the newest patch, your basement is fully secure from both boobs and BSODs. Now, you can again touch the Linux kernel in all the naughty places that you want.
3. Re:who fixes what ? by fluffythedestroyer · 2012-07-19 23:58 · Score: 1
  
  In a very odd way this article reminded me of an ex girlfriend that wanted to come back to me but when I learned she was "touched" by one of my friends, I didnt want her. I mean each time I would touch her, it would be like I would "touch" my friend. eww..
The patched code by Sqr(twg) · 2012-07-19 07:48 · Score: 5, Funny

#define HV_LINUX_GUEST_ID_HI 2976579765 /* That better, fuckers? */
Re:Eh? by kencurry · 2012-07-19 07:49 · Score: 1

What's wrong with being sexy? Mine goes up to number 11! :0)
Ian : "...Sex - IST..."
David: "have you seen the cover of Derek Small's new album?"
later...
Nigel: "Ah, there's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

--
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
2976579765 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:50 · Score: 1

Dec 2976579765
Oct 26132600265
Bin 10110001011010110000000010110101
But this number is dirty in hex, so I won't post it.
Re:Lets just cut to the chase and include an enorm by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 07:51 · Score: 1

or vagina
Not getting it... by jythie · 2012-07-19 07:51 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think what I find depressing.... in these discussions you see many people pointing out that they don't get it, they don't understand why it is a big deal, etc...

You know what, that is a great thing to say, a great thing to admit. Stop there.

I think what is infuriating to many is people start with "I don't understand" then proceed to "therefor it doesn't matter". Telling people how they should feel about things that you can't understand is the hight of arrogance. Maybe instead these people should take some time and listen, and just accept that other people are impacted by things like this and just because you are not doesn't mean they shouldn't be.

You don't get it. Fine. Then don't tell other people how to feel. Women don't need your big smart male brain to explain how their poor womanly one should react to things that relate to experiences men don't have.
1. Re:Not getting it... by thesandtiger · 2012-07-19 08:15 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The thing is, this is so far down on the list of "awful sexist shit that goes on in tech circles" that it really doesn't matter. Stupid and immature variable names referring to (presumably female in this case) anatomy are at best a symptom of the larger problem of sexism, but not a problem themselves.
  I am a woman, I worked in tech (and now work in research doing tech) and I experienced quite a bit of sexism at a level that most any man, we're hey to hear it said about a woman he cared for, would have lost his fucking mind. THAT is a problem.
  But an outcry about stupid variable names just gives people who want to deny sexism pervades tech a convenient way to point at something incredibly stupid and say "they're just over sensitive, they got mad about a dumb variable name" and actually seem persuasive because it is such a trivial and stupid thing to get mad about, relatively.
  
  --
  Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
2. Re:Not getting it... by MMC+Monster · 2012-07-19 08:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  People are sometimes too sensitive over things.
  It's just a term. As far as sexist terms, it's not in the top 5.
  Most people here (which is a representative group similar to the people that read Linux source code) are not particularly insulted by this term getting into the source. Therefore, if an individual has a problem with the term, it's their problem.
  Frankly, I think more people here would have been upset if "Microsoft rules, Linus is an ass" made it into the Linux source as a comment.
  
  --
  Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
3. Re:Not getting it... by spidercoz · 2012-07-19 08:36 · Score: 2
  
  It's not that we don't understand, we understand fine. It's just that we don't care. It's just goofing about. It's meaningless. Real women don't care either. They accept our immaturity because that's just how we are. Why can't you? That's how it goes, men are immature, women are irrational. We accept that about you.
  
  --
  "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
4. Re:Not getting it... by MBGMorden · 2012-07-19 08:42 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I can respect your opinion, but to a large degree I think we as a society have just gotten too sensitive. That's not a problem that is inherent to women, men, old people, young people, or any particular ethnic group. Its a problem we have all developed.
  Yes, it was a childish and stupid prank. Its not something I'd do and I'd wonder about the maturity level of anyone that would stick such rubbish into a piece of code.
  That said, it's gotten to the point lately where it seems that the primary occupation of people is to go around looking for things to be offended by. People are so insecure and unhappy in their lives that they need to generate controversy on a regular interval. Every action anyone takes is carefully scrutinized for any hint of content that is currently accepted as "offensive" because no opportunity to be offended can be passed up.
  Whether its claiming that gay marriage is an affront to nature or "BIG BOOBS" slipping into the kernel as an immature joke, just learn to ignore something if you don't like it folks.
  
  --
  "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
5. Re:Not getting it... by amicusNYCL · 2012-07-19 08:45 · Score: 2
  
  You don't get it. Fine. Then don't tell other people how to feel. Women don't need your big smart male brain to explain how their poor womanly one should react to things that relate to experiences men don't have.
  OK, so women don't want men to think about, talk about, look at, or otherwise interact with boobs, is that the case? Women (not literally - very not literally) push their boobs in men's faces all the time and then act like we should ignore them. I see women with low-cut shirts exposing their cleavage on a daily basis, but fuck me if I make a comment on or otherwise react to them, then I'm sexist! It's a little hypocritical to flaunt yourself and then complain when men see you as a sexual object.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
6. Re:Not getting it... by TheGatesofBill · 2012-07-19 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  Alternatively, maybe people should stop being so damned thin-skinned.
7. Re:Not getting it... by Just+Some+Guy · 2012-07-19 08:48 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  So men shouldn't tell women how to feel, but women can tell men how to code because of how it makes them feel?
  When "how to code" involves not being an outright jackass, well, yeah. I'm not some political correct whiner by any stretch of the imagination, but I do believe in showing basic respect for others. My daughter is showing a strong interest in math science. Why should she have to dig through dumb juvenile jokes to learn about something like programming?
  OK, so you don't care about my kid specifically or in general. Fine. How about this, then: is it a good or bad thing for you to make more than half of the world's population uncomfortable around your code? You're weeding out the majority of your developer pool and self-selecting for the remainder who thinks "HAHA B16B00B5 IS TEH FUNNY!". In that situation, your desire to insert off-putting humor in your code is doing yourself a great disservice.
  
  --
  Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
8. Re:Not getting it... by Hatta · 2012-07-19 08:50 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I'm a male, but to me, it's just a matter of respect for other people.
  I find that people who truly respect others the most don't mind when they engage in a little harmless fun. Prudery is caused by respect for the rules, not respect for people, and is ultimately selfish. "If I can't laugh about it, nobody should."
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
9. Re:Not getting it... by jerpyro · 2012-07-19 08:54 · Score: 1
  
  +1. (I can't mod because I commented, but I'd give you a mod point if I could)
  But honestly, the last thing I want is for something that I consider an art (programming) to become as cold and sterile as Human Resources has become.
10. Re:Not getting it... by fredprado · 2012-07-19 08:58 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  How you feel about some silly hex number pun is not my problem, it is not the coder's problem and it is not society's problem. It is your problem. Grow up and learn to deal with your fellings..
  
  It is past time women start to leave the role of perpetual victims. I do believe you are every bit as capable as we men are, but you won't ever reach equal status if you continue willingly taking the role of victims.
11. Re:Not getting it... by BMOC · 2012-07-19 08:59 · Score: 2
  
  I wish I had mod points, I would sacrifice a days worth of comments to mod you down for that.
  I have *zero* control over your feelings. Those are yours and yours alone. If something about the world bothers you, if something about someone else's behavior bothers you, your choice is very clear. You either put up with it, or you remove yourself from exposure to that behavior. My right to behave and speak and express how I want only ends when it actually infringes on your right to behave and speak and express how you like. IT DOES NOT END when you start to feel offended. If freedom ended whenever someone else felt offended, human life would essentially cease to exist on this planet.
  Your feelings are your responsibility, and your problem. Deal with it.
  
  --
  I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
12. Re:Not getting it... by Hatta · 2012-07-19 09:01 · Score: 1
  
  I think what is infuriating to many is people start with "I don't understand" then proceed to "therefor it doesn't matter".
  If you can't explain why it matters in rational terms, then it doesn't.
  If you get to arbitrarily declare things offensive without any rational basis, then I get to do the same. I hereby declare your argument that "big boobs" is offensive to be as offensive to me as "big boobs" is to you. Now by your very own argument I can censor your complaint, just as you want to censor me.
  Oh, you don't understand why it's such a big deal to me when you complain about my language? Fine. Then don't tell me how to feel.
  If there's something wrong with the logic in this post, please point it out to me.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
13. Re:Not getting it... by spidercoz · 2012-07-19 09:02 · Score: 2
  
  +++++ mod up
  
  --
  "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
14. Re:Not getting it... by spidercoz · 2012-07-19 09:12 · Score: 1
  
  Word. God forbid any other field become as humorless and self-loathing as HR.
  
  --
  "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
15. Re:Not getting it... by spidercoz · 2012-07-19 09:14 · Score: 1
  
  +++++ mod up too
  
  --
  "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
16. Re:Not getting it... by PraiseBob · 2012-07-19 09:22 · Score: 1
  
  Why should she have to dig through dumb juvenile jokes to learn about something like programming?
  
  Exactly what field of study do you think is immune to dumb juvenile jokes? Do you think Doctors never make sexist jokes about body parts? Lawyers? Advertising agencies? (Hell, most of them make their living off the idea of either selling sex or comedy)
  
  There aren't many women in tech fields. There aren't many male librarians or other jobs in the language arts field. Do we blame women for driving men away from being librarians?
17. Re:Not getting it... by bky1701 · 2012-07-19 09:25 · Score: 2
  
  "I think what is infuriating to many is people start with "I don't understand" then proceed to "therefor it doesn't matter". Telling people how they should feel about things that you can't understand is the hight of arrogance. Maybe instead these people should take some time and listen, and just accept that other people are impacted by things like this and just because you are not doesn't mean they shouldn't be.
  
  You don't get it. Fine. Then don't tell other people how to feel. Women don't need your big smart male brain to explain how their poor womanly one should react to things that relate to experiences men don't have."
  
  I have issues with this line of reasoning. You can't have it both ways.
  
  You claim "we" can't understand how women feel about this: why not? Isn't that pretty horribly sexist in itself? It's definitely a lot more sexist than "0xB16B00B5", but I guess that's alright, because you're insulting men and that's fine. Did you stop to think maybe "we" are just right?
  
  You seem to think women are just more fragile than men. We can't understand how they are so easily harmed by a hexadecimal constant, so we should just nod and not try to point out why it means nothing, because that will make them feel worse. Don't you think that is patronizing at all?
  
  I am pretty much tired of political correctness and reverse sexism being used to attack people who actually do things. This is the internet. If women are not contributing to the kernel, you know fucking well it is because they are choosing not to. If you believe that is because of "0xB16B00B5", well, that seems more insulting than saying "herp derp women can't program" to me.
  
  --
  Great Intellect...
18. Re:Not getting it... by PJ6 · 2012-07-19 09:30 · Score: 1
  
  Just because one person feels offended and calls something sexist/racist/insensitive/whatever doesn't make it so. The definitions of these words are almost completely a function of current, aggregate opinion. Is the comment still sexist if less than 20% of women think so? What about 5%? 1%? What if the 1% cry extra hard about it?
  
  I remember in my college days being at Wellesley, and some of the students, I shit you not, made an 8 ft penis out of snow just for kicks. None of the guys that saw it gave sexism a moment's consideration. Back at MIT, some students made a set of boobs in the snow near Kresge. Again, no complaints of sexism, and the sky didn't fall.
  
  Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if there is also another snippet of code somewhere that reads 0xB16D1C.
  
  The only reason there is a row over this is that the act was unprofessional and, above all, that it involved a sexual reference, in the good ol' puritanical US of A.
19. Re:Not getting it... by bky1701 · 2012-07-19 09:35 · Score: 1
  
  But you didn't have the required emotional outrage! You are a horrible person! Just people people who didn't want to burn those witches.
  
  --
  Great Intellect...
20. Re:Not getting it... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:52 · Score: 1
  
  Telling people how they should feel about things that you can't understand is the hight of arrogance.
  Does the hypocrisy even register in complaining about arrogance and then saying that people should admit that they don't understand, when in fact what they are saying is that they disagree with you? Disagreeing and not understanding are separate things. It doesn't matter even if you are right that these people don't understand, it can do your cause no good to just say that they don't understand, tell them that they should admit it, call them arrogant and then throw a ridiculous straw man like this in their face: "Women don't need your big smart male brain to explain how their poor womanly one should react to things that relate to experiences men don't have." I guess you just wanted to vent and didn't care about the stereotypes you are confirming here, but if you actually wanted to be constructive, then maybe you should have went with something like this:
  "I do find this offensive and it's very sad to me that there is so little acknowledgement among the posters here that a reasonable person could be hurt by something like this. I think these posters are people who don't have the personal experiences with sexism and discrimination that many women in technology do and that is why they don't see the harm. This is situation is hurtful because X."
  I don't think you can fill in X in a way that makes it reasonable to think of this as a real problem, but from what you are writing you shouldn't have a problem with filling in X. If you had posted the above instead of what you did, you'd have done an excellent job of priming your readers to at least try to accept X as something reasonable. I think at this point you think I'm a man lecturing you about how to be a woman, but that's because like a woman you are completely missing the point that there is something about talking to men about issues like this that you don't understand because you don't have the experience with listening to this stuff the way that all men have... now isn't that an infuriating kind of argument? Yes, exactly!
21. Re:Not getting it... by Rockoon · 2012-07-19 09:58 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  YOU don't see anything wrong with it. YOU aren't offended by it. That's very nice and all, but
  I both am not offended by it nor do I see something wrong with it. You do realize that these two things are not the same, right?
  
  Your entire post is based on the premise that if someone is offended by something, then there is something wrong with that something. It is that premise that is whats wrong.
  
  You are advocating the politically correct version of the thought police, but instead of telling people how they should think.. you are trying to tell people that they cant induce particular thoughts ("offended") in others. How dare I alter someones thoughts to a mode of being offended.. right? How dare I?
  
  Did it ever occur to you that the "wrong" part in this whole ordeal (besides your entire post) is that someone got offended in the first place? If someone gets offended easily we call it a disorder. Hypersensitive blah blah and all that. You are suggesting that its normal to be offended by some thing, just not a lot of things. Those facts are not in evidence.
  
  I suggest that its always wrong to be offended.. that its always a psychosis. What happens inside your head is your business, not mine. Dont make it mine. you wont like that.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
22. Re:Not getting it... by spire3661 · 2012-07-19 10:01 · Score: 1
  
  It is ALSO the height of arrogance to force complete political correctness on everyone. I absolutely REFUSE to use the term African-American to describe black people. I absolutely refuse to stop using the word retard. I call North American indians, Indians. You do not have the right to not be offended when I am exercising my right to Free Speech. If my words hurt you, then come talk to me as a man, but once you start DEMANDING i change my view, we have a serious problem.
  
  --
  Good-bye
23. Re:Not getting it... by spire3661 · 2012-07-19 10:11 · Score: 1
  
  WTF. We only have one role and that is being a man? SERIOUSLY? Just ...wow.
  
  --
  Good-bye
24. Re:Not getting it... by JonySuede · 2012-07-19 10:12 · Score: 1
  
  I asked my wife about that and she answered:
  
  Bullocks, they are a group of crazy pseudofeminist twats. Sure, women are less present in IT/CS. But it's not because of the work culture but it's caused by the involuntary indoctrination started even before preschool. That indoctrination is pernicious as it is accomplished by innocent looking thing such as as giving dolls instead of Lego sets....
  
  --
  Jehovah be praised, Oracle was not selected
25. Re:Not getting it... by tftp · 2012-07-19 10:24 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  All we're asking, if we're asking for anything at all, is that you develop a little flexibility. There's a time for being a professional man, and a time for being a sexually aroused man.
  Men cannot effectively control these reactions, short of whipping themselves, or taking an ice-cold shower every other minute. Even monks cannot claim that they are in control of themselves. What you are asking about is technically impossible in most cases (excepting blind, deaf, dead, very old, or gay men.) Humans look at other humans in well defined sequences, and science discovered those long time ago. Those sequences are selected by evolution as being most beneficial for safety and replication. Humans are not in control of that - it happens faster than one can think. Perhaps a blindfold will help? But no, this will be seen by women as an affront as well :-)
  If a man makes a heroic effort to ignore your sexy attire, still he will be extremely distracted by the circumstances; he will not entirely be a professional focused on the job. Such a man will likely be unwilling to work with you in the future, seeing you not as a colleague but as a distraction that cannot end well. It will be a purely logical decision to stay away from a troublemaker. Office is for work, and only a fool would use it differently. (Not that there aren't many fools around.)
  And most of us women, while yes, we do sometimes dress sexy at work, that's not a comeon for you at work.
  Similarly, a man might hop into his Porsche 911 and drive through a city at 180 mph, but that's not an invitation to the Highway Patrol to stop him.
  Unfortunately, some things are related. If y=f(x) you cannot manipulate 'x' with impunity and expect the 'y' to be where you like it to be today. Pull a cat by the tail and it will say meow.
  That's a meet me after work proposition.
  Many women take it for granted that men can unerringly read their thoughts and extract hidden meanings from little details. However in practice men will have difficulty in reading your intentions even if you print them on a placard and carry it with you everywhere :-) The art of communicating hidden messages with small gestures or positions of a hat died along with the courts of kings. Men just don't bother inferring hints anymore; among men it is a good rule to communicate simply and clearly, so that your message does not have to be decoded. The language of the army is an ultimate example of that - the cost of misunderstanding there is extremely high; you speak clearly or people die.
26. Re:Not getting it... by WillgasM · 2012-07-19 10:28 · Score: 1
  
  fnd vwls ffnsv nd dmnd thy b rmvd frm th nglsh lngg.
27. Re:Not getting it... by Just+Some+Guy · 2012-07-19 10:53 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly what field of study do you think is immune to dumb juvenile jokes?
  Is there something about programming that's inherently gender-oriented? I mean, women typically don't make great NFL linemen. There's a natural reason why more women than men go into professional football. But staring at vim in a terminal window, I don't see anything inherently male about it. It's code. It's logic. Why deliberately dumb it down and drive away potential helpers
  
  There aren't many women in tech fields.
  In no small part because of silly things like this.
  
  Do we blame women for driving men away from being librarians?
  Do women librarians take great pride in how shitty they can be toward men who would otherwise be interested in their profession?
  
  --
  Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
28. Re:Not getting it... by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 10:58 · Score: 2
  
  You say this:
  There are very few statements I can think of that apply to all women, anymore than I can come up with any to describe all men.
  then this:
  and men... well, men are terrible with context.
  do you not see a disconnect?
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
29. Re:Not getting it... by BMOC · 2012-07-19 10:58 · Score: 1
  
  b) it's not about you.
  Yes it is. I'm being told I can't speak a certain way. I'm being pre-emptively controlled in terms of my speech and behavior because someone might find it offensive. That is prior-restraint, it's wrong particularly when used to justify curtailments on inalienable rights. Please try to understand where rights actually begin and end and stop focusing on preventing offense. People will be offended, there is no stopping this. The fact that a certain behavior MIGHT speak to a FEELING of institutionalized anything is not cause to pre-emptively tell people not to behave a certain way. If a woman FEELS she is being demeaned in a professional environment, the appropriate course of action is direct confrontation with the offenders, not a set of arbitrary language rules that we apply to all of society.
  
  I don't know why some (most?) men think that's okay. I LIKE the women I get to work with; the last thing I want to do is make them uncomfortable to be around me or in the office at all.
  The fact that I should be offended has nothing to do with the issue of what action is taken in response to offense. The fact that you can't understand why some men think it is or is not ok has nothing to do with it. Their behavior and speech are their god-given right, and even if I disagree with it, it's their right to speak it. I don't like it when women get offended, most women in my industry confide their horror stories to me all the time. We joke and laugh at the offenders. But I would never go find these offenders and try to instruct them on how to behave, that is completely outside the scope of acceptable human interaction, and it is truly like wrestling with pigs.
  LET THE PIGS BE PIGS. They have that right. It's not cool, it's gross, but it is their right. Racists have the right to be racist. Systematic racism or sexism is something else entirely. When women or minorities are passed over for promotion or not hired for no good reason, that is actionable. Simple expression or behavior IS NOT actionable. This is why we don't try to hunt bigots down and alter their perception of the world. Eventually there will be enough generation turnover that this wont be an issue. But if you try to make behavioral change such a big issue you're damaging a generation with what is effectively a form of bigotry.
  
  --
  I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
30. Re:Not getting it... by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  Men cannot effectively control these reactions, short of whipping themselves, or taking an ice-cold shower every other minute.
  Oh you're *that* guy. The creepy letchy guy at the office. Don't worry, every office has one.
  Also, speak for your self. Yes, there may be good looking women at work. But most of us manage not to leer after them or walk around all day sporting a boner.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
31. Re:Not getting it... by Just+Some+Guy · 2012-07-19 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  are you just making a sexist assumption?
  "Over half" would include a lot of men. Are you making the sexist assumption that no men would be uncomfortable typing that in an office setting?
  I'm probably not one of those men. "Big boobs" doesn't offend me or make me uncomfortable. It does give me an awful impression of the author's maturity, though.
  
  --
  Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
32. Re:Not getting it... by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 11:04 · Score: 1
  
  I call North American indians, Indians.
  What do you call people from India, and does it ever get confusing and ambiguous?
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
33. Re:Not getting it... by makomk · 2012-07-19 11:15 · Score: 1
  
  So you saying things that offend people is just you exercising your right to Free Speech, but other people don't have the right to complain about you saying those things because... somehow that's not speech that they should be free to make? Free speech only extends to saying things that you agree with? Riiiiight... remind me again who exactly is attacking freedom of speech here.
34. Re:Not getting it... by PraiseBob · 2012-07-19 11:22 · Score: 1
  
  Is there something about programming that's inherently gender-oriented?
  I believe there is. Why do men consistently score higher in math on SAT's than women? Why do women consistently score higher on language? Men and women aren't indentical, and their brains don't work in identical ways. I believe this is far more relevant as to why there are large differences in tech employment than sexist jokes.
35. Re:Not getting it... by amicusNYCL · 2012-07-19 11:24 · Score: 1
  
  Would you really enjoy working or reading code written like:
  
  // Get your new one night stand LOL
  ThrobbingCock = CockFactory.new();
  // Get it hard for me, papi LOL
  while not ThrobbingCock.erect() {
  ThrobbingCock.suck();
  HairyBalls.fondle();
  }
  // Stick that shit in! LOL
  ThrobbingCock.insert();
  That is utterly ridiculous. I never write "LOL".
  I understand what you're saying, even though you're going to an extreme with an example that would get someone fired. I'm not the type of person to do things like that, I don't go around the office making sexist jokes. I just get a short-circuit in my brain when I see women making themselves up to look as sexually attractive as they possibly can and then complain that men view them as sex objects. I certainly do notice when they do that for themselves, but I never bring that up in a professional environment. I'm not at work to get a date, I'm here to work. Even though I've dated 2 of the women I've worked with.. I'm here to work.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
36. Re:Not getting it... by amicusNYCL · 2012-07-19 11:26 · Score: 1
  
  And most of us women, while yes, we do sometimes dress sexy at work, that's not a comeon for you at work. That's a meet me after work proposition. As in, when the work is done, and the boss isn't around.
  Hey now, stop that you tease. I already know you're gay. Nice outfit, though.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
37. Re:Not getting it... by tftp · 2012-07-19 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  Why don't we try to keep the discussion civil, without debasing ourselves with personal attacks? I am discussing the problem from a scientific point of view. At least I'm trying to. I may be wrong in some or all of my statements; your corrections, based on your own analysis and experience, are always welcome. It's difficult to generalize a behavior having only few observations as data points; though literary examples help.
  Everyone can control his (or her) voluntary reactions. You can turn away and not look. You can choose your words. You can completely ignore some people. You can walk away. Even that "creepy letchy guy at the office" can do it; he just doesn't want to.
  It becomes more difficult with lower level of reactions, such as where you look when you do look. Most of these things happen before your mind can react - and you correct yourself as fast as you can. Still, women may (will?) be displeased that instead of looking into their eyes you look elsewhere (at least now and then, when you get distracted.) This is not unique to men in any way; if you walk into the office wearing only briefs and well tanned skin, with good muscles under it, you will catch quite a few looks from womenfolk - even if you wish that they don't look at you. Remember that scene from "Terminator 1" when the Terminator walks into a bar?
  Note also that the comment was largely discussing the situation when a woman wears clothing that is more sexy than usual. GP was explaining why it is done, and my response was only about the unintended consequences. The situation is far less likely to occur when people stick to more formal, or more neutral, clothing. Choice of clothes is also a signal (as GP said) but that signal can easily be incorrectly interpreted - especially when there is no codebook for this cipher and everyone makes one up as they go.
38. Re:Not getting it... by BMOC · 2012-07-19 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  I am a woman, I worked in tech (and now work in research doing tech) and I experienced quite a bit of sexism at a level that most any man, we're hey to hear it said about a woman he cared for, would have lost his fucking mind. THAT is a problem.
  Here's examples of pig behavior that girls have confided in me:
  1) (in college) Undergrad friend in the same department and classes, same major. She had taken one particular thermodynamics class 2 times already. The professor never changed his exams much, so she had all the answers to each question because she had been through it before. The jackass still failed her on the second midterm, even though lots of us guys in the class knew we had done worse on the exams than her. Straight out mysogynist, everyone hated his ass. That was completely actionable, but the departments solution was to bury it and pass her through the program some other way.
  2) (same dept, different girl) Full time lecturer made one dirty joke. One girl got offended and used it against him in a grade dispute after the semester. The grade wasn't ever changed, to my knowledge. This one was petty, as far as I'm concerned, but the grade dispute might have been real.
  3) (aerospace industry) Pregnant friend was standing in line at the cafeteria to pay for her meal. Older gentleman standing in front of her points to her belly and says, "is that what I think it is?"... She akwardly replies, "yes, yes I'm pregnant."... after paying for his meal, he walks off while saying, "well I hope you wanted it." I consider this not actionable. It's asshole behavior, but no good can come from making a stink about it. The adult thing to do is to consider the person a prick and move on.
  4) (aerospace industry) Same girl, but before she was pregnant and recently hired. She was asked to work with this one (admittedly asian) gentleman. So she begins chatting with him in his office. He starts going off about how it's a waste that she went and got an engineering degree, because women should be at home making babies or something. Again, I consider this horrific behavior, but not worth starting a corporate fuss about. That guy is old, he's an idiot. If he's going to be a jerk she can either directly confront him about the offense at the time of offense (my preferred solution), or try to avoid him. But creating some blanket rule on behavior through the HR department, stupid.
  Ya, if women started behaving like that to me at work, I wouldn't like it. I also wouldn't expect HR to fire anyone for it, nor would I like it if an entire company's rules had to change because of my problem with a few people. I'd rather confront the b**tch about what she said before it ever got that far.
  
  --
  I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
39. Re:Not getting it... by girlintraining · 2012-07-19 12:37 · Score: 1
  
  Hey now, stop that you tease. I already know you're gay. Nice outfit, though.
  Please. I've spent the afternoon screwing around with DirectX system calls... I'm wearing a pair of sweatpants, a tank, and my hair is tied off in a pony. And I spilled lunch down my front about an hour ago. Stupid mutter mutter... My cleveage is only good for catching boiling things you just fished out of the kitchen, and being nice pillows for when I sprawl out on the bed and read a book.
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
40. Re:Not getting it... by girlintraining · 2012-07-19 12:39 · Score: 1
  
  This is not unique to men in any way; if you walk into the office wearing only briefs and well tanned skin, with good muscles under it, you will catch quite a few looks from womenfolk - even if you wish that they don't look at you.
  
  that's why we look at them out of the corner of our eyes, and only when they're distracted and not looking in our direction. :) There is such a thing as being discreet...
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
41. Re:Not getting it... by tragedy · 2012-07-19 12:42 · Score: 1
  
  I have to take issue with the "ridiculous infatuation" statement. It's unfair and, frankly, a little cruel. It's not a "ridiculous infatuation", it's part of a genetic feedback loop. Heterosexual men don't have such "ridiculous infatuations" because they're childish or because they're bad people or anything like that, they have them because they're heterosexual males. Heterosexual males who don't have such infatuations generally have a serious psychological problem.
  I remember hearing this nonsense from teenage girls about male erections when I was a teenager. Acting as if teenage boys are jerks for getting erections. Any typical male who has been through puberty knows that erections during those years just happen. Sometimes from sexual arousal that can be controlled through mental discipline, yes. Maybe half the time. The other half it just happens at random without any apparent stimulus and no amount of willpower will stop it. Resenting teenage boys for getting erections is akin to resenting girls for menstruating.
  That said, writing juvenile things in code is something people can control. People doing it probably need to grow up and stop doing it. Of course, people getting up in arms about it likewise probably need to grow up and stop letting it bother them.
42. Re:Not getting it... by LodCrappo · 2012-07-19 13:27 · Score: 1
  
  Mostly, when people say things like "I don't get it" in reference to someone being upset about something like the use of a value like B16B00B5, they are not saying they don't understand the rationale behind those who are offended.
  What they are saying is that said rationale is so moronic and so unfathomably obtuse that they "don't get" how anyone could pretend to believe it and keep a straight face. They do pretty much grok the flawed thinking behind the offendees. Don't assume that someone who disagrees with you misunderstands you.
  
  --
  -Lod
43. Re:Not getting it... by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 14:10 · Score: 1
  
  I am astonished. And you call us sexist? That was the biggest pile of sexist diatribe I've seen in a while, and I looked at Microsoft's contributions to the Linux kernel, so I know sexist!
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
44. Re:Not getting it... by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 14:30 · Score: 1
  
  Stop right there. I'm extremely offended by the word "depressing." How could you be so insensitive?
  
  Then don't tell other people how to feel.
  If they're going to call this sexist, I'll feel free to ignore them completely (the sexist bit).
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
45. Re:Not getting it... by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 14:31 · Score: 1
  
  and then they sit around and scratch their heads wondering why more women aren't in IT
  Because someone hinted at the existence of big breasts? Man or woman, I'm not sure we need such oversensitive people at all.
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
46. Re:Not getting it... by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 14:33 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe next winter you'll slip over and break a leg.
  They could laugh about it if they wanted.
  Oversensitivity makes me laugh, I know that much. And your comment contained numerous small things that I'm quite offended by. It adds up, you insensitive clod!
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
47. Re:Not getting it... by Richard+Dick+Head · 2012-07-19 14:37 · Score: 1
  
  I like where you are going with that, and I'll add to it:
  
  Lashing out at people up who joke around and trigger your social anxieties is not OK, especially since keeping other people in check will do very little to fix your problem or make you happier. Your only possible outcome be taking one crooked step towards the impossible goal of feeling in control, while only succeeding in bringing others down to your level of misery.
  
  I think GP misunderstands the terse negative feedback. Nobody is telling you how to feel when they return your negative feedback, but rather drawing attention to how what you expressed indicates how grossly entrenched you are in something that is warped and totally lacking in mental and spiritual sunshine. It is something we typically learn in early childhood so it does tend to come out in childish, almost subconscious ways, like "feck off" or "eww you're gross and creepy or something".
  
  And while sex can be used as a convenient component when you are making excuses for yourself, the root issue it certainly is not a matter of sex, but maturity.
  
  --
  The real path to male liberation
48. Re:Not getting it... by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 14:46 · Score: 1
  
  All of your opinions about subjective matters are 100% objectively correct and everyone else's are simply incorrect. The joke was objectively unfunny whether or not certain people found it humorous, and your view on what a "jackass" is or what "respect" is is absolutely correct. There can be no other viewpoints, and this isn't a subjective matter at all.
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
49. Re:Not getting it... by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 15:00 · Score: 1
  
  Would you really enjoy working or reading code written like:
  No, because that looks like bad code. I wouldn't be offended by the comments, though.
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
50. Re:Not getting it... by KingSkippus · 2012-07-19 16:57 · Score: 1
  
  What you're not getting is that it's not just "harmless fun," and it's not just prudery. It's being an asshole. In case you haven't noticed, women make only 77 to 82 cents on the dollar of men for the same work. They're also passed over more often for jobs than men, especially at higher levels of management. Oh, and of course, there are also orders of magnitude more cases of sexual harassment against women in the workplace than there are for men. (And little hint: It's not because men just aren't reporting those cases, it's because women really are harassed that much more often.) Not to mention that women are the victims of crimes of men more often than men are against women. When was the last time you were walking down the street thinking, "This place is a little seedy, I hope I don't get raped"? Yeah, I didn't think so. When was the last time that someone accused you of "wanting it" because you wanted to dress nicely? Yeah, I didn't think so. I could go on, but I seriously doubt you care.
  Point is, if you're in a comedy club and someone makes jokes about women's breasts, while I might think it's tasteless, at least it's in a setting where it's appropriate. If you're talking to some buddies, while I might think you're an asshole for doing so, hey, knock yourself out telling off-color jokes. If you're watching a porno flick or in a female strip club and some lewd comments weren't made about big breasts, something is probably very wrong. If you're willingly watching old reruns of Married With Children, then you really don't have any room to complain about the content if you find it offensive and choose not to stop watching.
  But embedding such crudeness in code that is, by its open source nature, destined for mass public use is beyond stupid. It's not "prudery" to expect people to behave with at least some modicum of respect for their fellow coders in such an area. In this context, it's not just "harmless fun." It's demeaning, it's offensive, and it alienates women for no good reason.
  What makes the situation ten times worse is that it wasn't even some coder working on his pet project, he was doing so representing his company. As such, these standards don't just apply to him personally, but he most certainly should have realized that he was at least in part affecting the reputation of that company. I still stand by my statement that if I were Microsoft, I would try to find out who it was and fire them; it's not even a close call to me. Those rules aren't there just to make your life miserable; they're there because back in days past, there was nothing stopping people like you who consider sexual harassment just "a little harmless fun" from creating workplaces and public spaces that were extremely hostile to women, so here we are. If you're not going to act like a human being in your private life, which is your prerogative, then by god at least we can make you act like one in your workplace and other places where civil rights have to be respected.
  I'll tell you what, if it's just "a little harmless fun," then how about we wait and see if the coder who did it steps forward? I mean, there's no harm, right? So it should be aaaany day now. Of course, he won't do it because there's nothing harmless or fun about what he did, and he knows it. He's just an anonymous little chicken shit taking pot shots at an entire gender buried in code because he doesn't have the guts to say something like that publicly and face the music for it.
51. Re:Not getting it... by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 17:18 · Score: 1
  
  What I find depressing is that it is so commonplace to to mark a "harmless joke" as "offensive." That's the most offensive thing about this entire situation.
  0xB15B00B5 does not do any of the following:
  1. Specifically identify any individual or group.
  2. Say anything negative about any individual or group.
  "I'd try to find the guy who did it and fire him. Some might argue this is an overreaction..."
  Yes, it's joke comments like "0xB15B00B5" that are the real problem. However, in a shit economy taking away a person's livelihood over something completely harmless, that's fine. That's really better for society.
  "I'm a male, but to me, it's just a matter of respect for other people."
  And I'd argue that being a humorless twat is far more disrespectful on average than "0xB15B00B5".
  There is nothing sexist about being crude. Whether it's a fart joke, a dick joke, a sex joke or a shit joke it's not sexist. It my offend someone's personal sensibilities but so what? That doesn't make it SEXIST. The idea that bathroom humor or juvenile behavior in and of itself is specifically offensive is sexist. Are you saying that a female is more likely to have more delicate sensibilities and is therefore more likely to be offended by me talking about how huge a co-worker's dump was? If so, guess who's the sexist.
52. Re:Not getting it... by KingSkippus · 2012-07-19 17:22 · Score: 1
  
  I believe this is far more relevant as to why there are large differences in tech employment than sexist jokes.
  Not that I think it will change your mind, because in my experience, most people who say this are biased to the point where they won't accept any evidence to the contrary. But just on the offhand chance that merely didn't know, studies disagree.
  The gender divide in math scores is purely cultural, and yes, sexist jokes are definitely part of that culture that is causing the divide. I really hope that you can overcome this notion of women simply being "wired differently," and maybe even help debunk it to others when you run across it.
53. Re:Not getting it... by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 17:24 · Score: 1
  
  "My daughter is showing a strong interest in math science. Why should she have to dig through dumb juvenile jokes to learn about something like programming?"
  The problem with this entire discussion is the idea that "dumb juvenile jokes" are somehow MORE offensive to women than they are to men. If you believe that, YOU are the sexist. 0xB15B00B5 is juvenile but it makes absolutely, positively NO derogatory statement about anyone. The real bullshit about this is that if it had been 0xB15BA115 no one would have mentioned the word "sexist."
  I have a daughter too. If she finds 0xB15B00B5 offensive, the only thing I'll be able to conclude is that I'm an utter failure as a parent.
54. Re:Not getting it... by KingSkippus · 2012-07-19 17:32 · Score: 1
  
  You are advocating the politically correct version of the thought police, but instead of telling people how they should think.. you are trying to tell people that they cant induce particular thoughts ("offended") in others. How dare I alter someones thoughts to a mode of being offended.. right? How dare I?
  Zzzzzt. We're not talking about hypersensitive people here. It is entirely foreseeable for normal people to expect other normal people to be offended by the term "big boobs" in a context in which it clearly does not belong. If you don't believe me, then next time you're at work in a meeting with both women and men, say something like, "We definitely need carefully consider our options going forward. Good ideas are like big boobs, we really need more of them." After you've collected your last paycheck as you're walking out the door, take a little bit of time to consider again the difference between an innocent comment that is taken wrong and a deliberately demeaning and hostile comment that you can be pretty sure will cause offense.
  Or put more simply, what you are saying is that if I punch you in the face, it's your own damn fault for feeling the sensation of pain, so really, there's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't punch you in the face.
55. Re:Not getting it... by bky1701 · 2012-07-19 17:56 · Score: 1
  
  Which is my point, to an extent. I did not want to become a programmer because I saw it as easily replaced by foreign labor and because of the large number of assholes I had already met in it. Yet if a woman makes the same decision, it seems everyone wants to make it about gender. That's not striving for equality; that's sexism in at least one direction, probably both to some extent depending on the people saying it. Either you have the extreme feminists who believe the world should be a matriarchy, or you have people who believe women are too weak to make their own decisions and handle the same stupidity men do. Neither are right. Neither should be encouraged nor accepted. Equality and general social harmony doesn't come through screaming about things of no consequence because it offends some made up sensibility of yours, it comes from learning to accept that, ultimately, your offense/fear/weakness is your problem.
  
  Again, if this were a case of something more specific, maybe it would be different. But, "you said BIG BOOBS, you should be FIRED!" is so irrational I have a very hard time even categorizing it as extremism. It sounds a lot like people with nothing better to do than bitch and moan.
  
  --
  Great Intellect...
56. Re:Not getting it... by mvdwege · 2012-07-19 19:31 · Score: 1
  
  Your entire post is based on the premise that if someone is offended by something, then there is something wrong with that something. It is that premise that is whats wrong.
  Surely you're joking?
  Read again, this time carefully, what you just wrote. That is a carte blanche to be offensive to everyone. Hey, it's their fault, they shouldn't be offended.
  You sound like a complete moron. According to your own rules, it's perfectly OK to say that, so do me a favour, and don't whine about it, OK?
  Mart
  
  --
  "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
57. Re:Not getting it... by mvdwege · 2012-07-19 19:34 · Score: 1
  
  I'm being told I can't speak a certain way. I'm being pre-emptively controlled in terms of my speech and behavior because someone might find it offensive.
  Oh god, you're expected to have manners and behave respectfully to other people. How will the Free World survive under the tyranny of such expectations??
  Mart
  
  --
  "I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
58. Re:Not getting it... by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 20:56 · Score: 1
  
  My apologies.
  I did have a longer reply, byt /. ate it.
  
  --
  SJW n. One who posts facts.
59. Re:Not getting it... by Rockoon · 2012-07-19 22:39 · Score: 1
  
  It is entirely foreseeable for normal people to expect other normal people to be offended by the term "big boobs" in a context in which it clearly does not belong.
  Sigh... you do realize that it being foreseeable for someone to be offended also does not make it wrong to be offensive, right? right?
  
  Maybe I dont give a shit that you have a psychosis that allows me to predict your thoughts? Ever think of that?
  
  I guess not. You really don't see the problem with your logic, do you? You are exactly what is wrong with this world.
  
  If you don't believe me, then next time you're at work in a meeting with both women and men, say something like, "We definitely need carefully consider our options going forward. Good ideas are like big boobs, we really need more of them." After you've collected your last paycheck as you're walking out the door, take a little bit of time to consider again the difference between an innocent comment that is taken wrong and a deliberately demeaning and hostile comment that you can be pretty sure will cause offense.
  I accept the consequences of my actions, and thus act accordingly. The problem is that you are arguing that some people (the "offended") dont have to accept the consequences of their mental disorder. Your argument and its entire line of reasoning is, quite frankly, retarded.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
60. Re:Not getting it... by Rockoon · 2012-07-19 22:45 · Score: 1
  
  Read again, this time carefully, what you just wrote. That is a carte blanche to be offensive to everyone. Hey, it's their fault, they shouldn't be offended.
  I am offended by the letters "mvdwege" when given in sequence. How dare you be offensive.
  
  See the problem with your logic yet? Think again, this time carefully, about what you are trying to argue. Its ridiculous for the world to cater to psychosis, because they are both arbitrary and meaningless. I bet you will reply saying that its OK to be offensive sometimes.. just not when its certain "populist" pet-peeves.
  
  You and I both know that your argument is based on emotion.Try using your brain for more than opening your maw, especially when you know (and I know you know) that its just emotional bullshit.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
61. Re:Not getting it... by amicusNYCL · 2012-07-20 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  That sounds like more fun than figuring out why it takes one server 18 hours to do a certain amount of work, but another server only 40 minutes to do 4 times the work. WTF. The hardware isn't that bad.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
62. Re:Not getting it... by Dixie_Flatline · 2012-07-20 08:30 · Score: 1
  
  Nowhere in my post did I say that people should be governed by laws or physically restrained from saying stupid, offensive things.
  However, not being bothered by comments that others can or are likely to feel offended by doesn't mean you can write them off and say, "Well, I'm not offended; this issue doesn't matter and we should stop making a fuss."
  This is what was in the post I was responding to:
  "People are sometimes too sensitive over things.
  It's just a term. As far as sexist terms, it's not in the top 5.
  Most people here (which is a representative group similar to the people that read Linux source code) are not particularly insulted by this term getting into the source. Therefore, if an individual has a problem with the term, it's their problem."
  The fact that it's 'not in the top 5' doesn't mean it isn't discouraging for women to see this sort of behaviour. This is the sort of stuff that keeps them out of our boy's club. This is what makes it hard for them to work with us. It's things like this that are cited time and time again by women leaving the industry as the reason that they do it.
  Why isn't that problematic? And why IS it problematic that I feel it SHOULD be a matter of concern? Everyone is so upset that they can't be puerile and sexist when they're hacking.
  But ultimately, I'm not here to change anyone's mind or make anyone do anything. I can't actually reasonably expect to do either. I AM trying to make people consider the view that it's stuff like this that gives IT/Programming the anti-woman reputation that it has.
63. Re:Not getting it... by PraiseBob · 2012-07-20 09:10 · Score: 1
  
  Appreciate the info. Apparently men and women are equal in math, and women still outrank men in language skills. But seems those same studies show the notion that women are wired differently is still correct, since they are inherently better at language skills.
64. Re:Not getting it... by thisisfutile · 2012-07-20 09:43 · Score: 1
  
  What about the black people that are offended by "African- American"? I have a friend who is black as midnight and hates that term because he's from Panama. He also hates the term "Panamanian-American". He also hates other blacks using "African-American". He's American and serving in our country's military and that's what he wants to be known as...American.
65. Re:Not getting it... by ByronHope · 2012-07-20 11:15 · Score: 1
  
  Yes there are much bigger problems than silly variable names or values. At a large government funded Catholic hospital, I use to work for, we interviewed for a report monkey, an entry level position in the Data team. There was one female candidate who stood out, had the right skills, but more importantly the right aptitude and an easy going personality. After the final round interview one of the managers remarked that the candidate was good but the IT department doesn't hire females in tech roles, he then rabbited on about cultural fit and problems caused by thin skinned females. The other people on the panel agreed until I pointed out, that is illegal discrimination and secondly it was plain stupid, she was the best candidate and that's what I wanted on my team. She got the job and is doing well.
66. Re:Not getting it... by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-21 14:02 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, so it's okay to put racial slurs in source code?
  I don't care.
  The point is, someone could be offended by the word "the." That doesn't mean that you should have to restrict your use of the English language to cater to them, nor does it mean that you should.
  All of this offended nonsense is completely arbitrary. People seem to expect people not to say something that offends them, but when it's something like I pointed out above, they'll arbitrarily decide that it doesn't matter for whatever reason. Maybe they'll even appeal to popularity. These arguments do not appear to be grounded in logic.
  
  Is it possible that you'll upset someone?
  It always is, even by using the word "the."
  
  but you should be selective about the people you DO offend
  Why? Why "should" I? Because you arbitrarily decided how I should offend people and when it's okay? Let me do the same: there is nothing wrong with this programmer's joke.
  
  This 'big boobs' thing is just a shitty joke that gives programmers even more of a reputation for sexist neanderthals.
  I have to wonder if sexism means anything to such people. I'm reminded of the boy who cried wolf.
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
67. Re:Not getting it... by Rockoon · 2012-07-22 04:07 · Score: 1
  
  So; your argument is that people shouldn't overreact... and that if they say labelling [SIC] shit offensively (but not *too* offensively) offends them, that they have a psychosis?
  Yes. Care to address this argument?
  
  You didn't seem to address it at all in the entirety of the rest of your post. I am claiming that the act of being offended is caused by a mental disorder, and my evidence for this is all the mental disorders associated with hypersensitivity. We classify both "easily offended" and "often offended" as symptoms of actual mental disorders. I propose that while its not politically correct to classify these offended woman as not having a mental disorder, that they still in fact have one.
  
  All mental disorders are the product of the environment the mind has been put in, particularly in the developmental years. This does not suggest that there is something wrong with the triggers of that mental disorder (B1GB00B5). This only suggests that there is something wrong with the environment which promotes the disorder in the first place.
  
  I understand that many little girls are taught that they are inferior by their parents and various other environmental conditions, and that many women experience systemic discrimination even today. That does not mean that I should coddle to the mental disorder that has resulted from the environment. I am suggesting quite specifically that there is no implied contract to coddle to any mental disorder regardless of how or why it occurred. The problem has never been what triggers mental disorders and I am not about to start treating it as the problem.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
68. Re:Not getting it... by Rockoon · 2012-07-22 04:15 · Score: 1
  
  I would suggest that those videos are only going half way to clarity. "Offense" is a mental condition that does not at all speak to the reality of what triggered it. Any fine joke teller will at one time or another say "what? too soon?"
  
  ..as if the expression of a single thought can magically change with the passage of time. An expression of a thought doesn't change with time. Its the same thought in any time.. It is the listeners that change with time.
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
69. Re:Not getting it... by Rockoon · 2012-07-22 04:21 · Score: 1
  
  Ah, so it's okay to put racial slurs in source code?
  What does it mean to be "okay?"
  
  Are we talking as a matter of legality? (then it depends on your jurisdiction, eh?)
  Are we are talking about expectations of negative or positive consequences? (then it depends on the audience, eh?)
  Are we talking about expectations to offend? (sorry, circular arguments are not acceptable)
  
  --
  "His name was James Damore."
What about... by LoadWB · 2012-07-19 07:51 · Score: 2

Would anyone have cared if the token was 0xB16BA115? I've heard (and I've done it myself) people refer to well-spec'd out machines as "ballsy." Not exactly professional, but a recognized colloquialism none-the-less.
Maybe it's just time for some people to grow up and not be so offended by little things. Save your outrage for the big stuff.
1. Re:What about... by Trailer+Trash · 2012-07-19 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  There's no comparison. Remember that "stud" is a complement and "bitch" is an insult.
  
  --
  Do you have ESP?
2. Re:What about... by LoadWB · 2012-07-19 15:48 · Score: 1
  
  So "boobs" is equivalent to "bitch?" Maybe I'm missing your point?
0x50RR1E11 by davidwr · 2012-07-19 07:51 · Score: 1

Sorrie!!
Damn, where's a Y-equivalent when you need one.

--
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The Booby by Danzigism · 2012-07-19 07:51 · Score: 1

Perhaps they were referring to the Booby.

--
*plays the Apogee theme song music*
1. Re:The Booby by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2012-07-19 08:23 · Score: 1
  
  They might also have been referring to great tits as well.
  
  Then there is my personal favorite BBC headline of all time:
  Great tits cope well with warming
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
code reviews - not at Microsoft by Locutus · 2012-07-19 07:52 · Score: 1

that seems to be a foreign subject at Microsoft or maybe their attitude goes like this, 'it's just open source, they them review our code since that is what they claim open source is all about.'

I doubt that attitude of the "engineer" who put that in the code is unique at Microsoft. As they say, sh:t rolls down hill and we know what's producing it at the top of that hill.

LoB

--
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
1. Re:code reviews - not at Microsoft by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-07-19 09:27 · Score: 2
  
  Code reviews are mandatory at Microsoft. But, as a code reviewer, would you really be looking closely - close enough to actually try to parse it as leetspeak - at a "magic constant", the only purpose of which is to be propagated from one component to another and to be uniquely recognized?
2. Re:code reviews - not at Microsoft by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 14:26 · Score: 1
  
  They probably just glanced at it long enough to establish that it was unlikely to occur in normal code and was oddly numbered or whatever magic constants need to be, and so on. Doubt they actually stopped and read it to work out what words it can be interpreted as.
  Of course, you're responding to Locutus, which I'm pretty sure is an alter-ego for Richard Stallman, with how anti-Microsoft he is. He actually seems to think Microsoft as an entity is evil (which is impossible, since corporates are no more than the sum of their parts. And frankly I don't subscribe to the belief that any corporation is evil, they are simply to varying degrees full of self-interest with no regard for the effect on others).
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
3. Re:code reviews - not at Microsoft by Locutus · 2012-07-19 18:25 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't look at the context of the "magic number" but figured it was a mask or something relevant. As a random magic number in a header file I can see it getting looked over. It really isn't too hard to see the slightly hidden leetspeak in it though.
  
  LoB
  
  --
  "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Re:Big Boobs? by MarkGriz · 2012-07-19 07:53 · Score: 3, Funny

How about 0xB15BA115 instead. If it was good enough for AC/DC....

--
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
of all the things MS should apologize for... by Tumbleweed · 2012-07-19 07:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

...this wouldn't even make the top 99% on my list.
Where is the beef? by tramp · 2012-07-19 07:54 · Score: 1

Microsoft is critized because a developer had been dreaming about what he is missing in his life? Come on!
Oh, and trolls, too. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2012-07-19 07:55 · Score: 3, Funny

I don't know why Microsoft would apologize -- programmer nerds love paying tribute to mythalogical things like hobbits, goblins, and female breasts.

--
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
1. Re:Oh, and trolls, too. by mk1004 · 2012-07-19 08:56 · Score: 1
  
  mythological things like...female breasts.
  Spoken like a true nerd.
  
  --
  I can mend the break of day, heal a broken heart, and provide temporary relief to nymphomaniacs.
2. Re:Oh, and trolls, too. by shutdown+-p+now · 2012-07-19 09:28 · Score: 1
  
  What's mythological about goblins? There are many on IRC...
Is this really happening? by tnk1 · 2012-07-19 07:55 · Score: 2

Am I really reading a story about outrage over crude hex humor? What's next, emails being passed around to ask me to check a box if I like the project manager girl in the other row?
MS is singled out again by microbee · 2012-07-19 07:55 · Score: 2

It's not like the kernel source is not full of dirty words already.
Would there have been so much angst if it said.. by BMOC · 2012-07-19 07:59 · Score: 1

B16D1CK5 ??
Somehow I think not.
Remember Men, it's o.k. if any part of your body gets represented as just a meaningless object used by the opposite sex in graphic novels, movies, or live performances. However, if you so much as look at a woman the wrong way, it's mysogynistic objectification. Except (of course there's always arbitrary exceptions) if it's her wedding day, which is when she is almost completely self-objectified and loves every minute of it.

--
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by Dogtanian · 2012-07-19 08:01 · Score: 5, Insightful

For statistical reasons woman boobs are bigger then mens.
No, women's breasts are (statistically) larger than mens for evolutionary reasons, not statistical ones. In fact, I doubt that statistics themselves have much effect on breast size at all!:-)

What a boob you made of that... (^_^)

--
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
1. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by hawguy · 2012-07-19 08:08 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  For statistical reasons woman boobs are bigger then mens.
  No, women's breasts are (statistically) larger than mens for evolutionary reasons, not statistical ones. In fact, I doubt that statistics themselves have much effect on breast size at all!:-)
  
  Statistically, some women obtain big boobs because they believe that statistically speaking, they will be able to attract a better mate with larger boobs.
  So an argument could be made that, on average, women's boobs are statistically larger due to statistics.
2. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:50 · Score: 1
  
  What a boob you made of that... (^_^)
  Wrong emoticon. The nipples generally, but not necessary, would be more like this... (. Y .)
3. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by girlintraining · 2012-07-19 09:02 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  So an argument could be made that, on average, women's boobs are statistically larger due to statistics.
  I beg to differ. Most women 'obtain' big boobs believing they will attract a better mate. But surveys have been constantly reporting that the ideal breast size is 'C' in terms of aesthetic appeal. Women who get larger breasts than that are appealing to a smaller subset of mates, and there's no correlation between a man's reproductive success and his only mating with women of unusual breast size.
  I'd argue even that the reverse is true, since as far as I can tell, overly-large breasts make men stupid, which is not an evolutionarily advantageous trait...
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
4. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by chilvence · 2012-07-19 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  -E. Y .3-
  *honk*
5. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by JonySuede · 2012-07-19 09:50 · Score: 1
  
  So an argument could be made that, on average, women's boobs are statistically larger due to statistics.
  Here is a reusable version of your statement: So an argument could be made that, on #{comparator.estimator.name}, #{comparator.data.type1.name} are statistically #{comparator.result.asAdverb} due to statistics.
  
  --
  Jehovah be praised, Oracle was not selected
6. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by alexo · 2012-07-19 10:26 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  surveys have been constantly reporting that the ideal breast size is 'C' in terms of aesthetic appeal.
  Eat that, Java advocates!
7. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by phorm · 2012-07-19 10:35 · Score: 1
  
  Don't worry, McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King are working on fixing that...
8. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by viperidaenz · 2012-07-19 14:49 · Score: 1
  
  Some people like J boobs better than C boobs.
9. Re:Why yes, I *am* being a pedantic git :-) by jez9999 · 2012-07-19 22:12 · Score: 1
  
  But surveys have been constantly reporting that the ideal breast size is 'C' in terms of aesthetic appeal.
  So you're telling me Scarlett Johanson and Angelina Jolie should get breast reduction surgery so they're more aesthetically pleasing?
  
  --
  == Jez ==
  Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Apology Accepted, Captain Nedar... by MightyMartian · 2012-07-19 08:01 · Score: 1

We would like to apologize sincerely for mocking your breasts. Now, please pass the lube so we can continue the ass raping.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
100 posts and no mention of by Neil+Blender · 2012-07-19 08:03 · Score: 1

Netscape engineers are weenies!
I think I speak for everyone on Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:04 · Score: 1

when I say that I'm shocked by this kind of behavior.
Shocked!
Re:Would there have been so much angst if it said. by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-07-19 08:06 · Score: 1

B16D1CK5 ??
Then MS would've gotten grief for using an invalid hex value.

--
#DeleteChrome
Bad title by SolitaryMan · 2012-07-19 08:06 · Score: 4, Funny

Slashdot editors, the title for this post should read "Microsoft Apologized for Big Boobs". Work better next time.

--
May Peace Prevail On Earth
1. Re:Bad title by GameboyRMH · 2012-07-19 08:19 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "Microsoft Apologizes for Sticking Big Boobs in Linux Kernel Devs' Faces" The Register-style.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Sexism in tech by thesandtiger · 2012-07-19 08:07 · Score: 5, Interesting

There is enough real sexism that runs throughout tech circles that bringing up stupid things like this does nothing but give deniers more ammunition to point to when dismissing any charges of sexism as stupid.
I am a woman, I used to work in tech (and now do tech for research academics), and I have experienced a pretty large amount of sexist behavior in my career, from the merely annoying ("you must be the secretary" "no, I'm the team lead") to the work affecting and frustrating ("let me condescendingly explain this incredibly simple thing to you and completely tune out anything you're saying because girls are dumb") to the incredibly fucking horrifying ("you should be raped for doing this that way" "stupid cunt" - yes, both said by people I was collaborating with, and the repercussions to them weren't nearly as severe as they should have been for such a transgression).
A variable named big boobs is so not even on my fucking radar and is so fucking stupid to even mention that I'm actually kind of pissed so anyone even mentioned it. It's dumb and childish to put it in in the first place, but who cares?

--
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
1. Re:Sexism in tech by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:04 · Score: 1
  
  This. It isn't sexist, its a joke. Sexism is real. This is just distracting us from real sexism. Please stop confusing silly political correctness with actual sexism, it hurts a very important cause.
  -- a female CS grad student
2. Re:Sexism in tech by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:13 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  I care, I have a daughter. It is not okay with me, that you had to put up with that. It is not okay with me that my daughter has to put up with any objectification of her person because at least she isn't being threatened with rape.
3. Re:Sexism in tech by slimjim8094 · 2012-07-19 09:18 · Score: 1
  
  Last time I tried to say something along those lines (in response to a guy in our CS program who wanted to make a "brogrammer" shirt for the undergrad campus-wide spring party) I got shouted down. I think "minority" groups of all flavors can be over-sensitive. Apparently the only group you can make fun of are white Christian hetero-normative males from relatively well-off backgrounds. If you don't quite match that specific group, you're not "fair game". For reference, just look at all the TV commercials where the woman is smart and savvy and tolerating her idiot husband. If someone were to reverse the roles, they'd be up against the wall so fast it'd make their head spin.
  It's truly disgusting what happened to you, and that's not the first time I've heard of things like that happening. I hope (like to think) that we don't produce people like that in my little corner of the world. I try my damndest to treat people equally, and go out of my way to avoid offending anybody - but I'm not afraid to. Walking on eggshells is never a good thing.
  
  --
  I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
4. Re:Sexism in tech by thesandtiger · 2012-07-19 09:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I will make an exception to the rule I have of not responding to ACs because you do raise a good point:
  No, your daughter absolutely should not be subject to objectification like this and I sincerely hope that she never has to be.
  What I am getting at, however, is that there's a kind of threshold that people need to be able to stomach and are kind of expected to stomach in any workplace or on any team.
  There is a basic level of hazing where things are, generally, innocuous enough to be brushed off as "stupid and immature and something to let slide as long as it doesn't go past that point" that a well adjusted person can deal with. In my opinion - and everyone will have a different threshold - this falls well under that threshold. I routinely see guys making jokes of a similar level of indecency and immaturity at each other and often far, far more directed at an individual. In this particular case, it's just a generally stupid background noise statement about boobs.
  The thing is, I would have no problem with an article that discusses what are called "micro-aggressions" (of which this was just one) and the cumulative effect of a lot of these micro-aggressions on the overall culture. The problem here is that this was one example, that, on its own, is just goofy to single out and get angry over.
  I know that these kinds of things don't happen in a vacuum - I know that "bigboobs" is not even a snowflake on the tip of the iceberg of absolutely repugnant misogyny and sexist behaviors that go on. BUT, I also know that the people who are largely responsible for perpetuating that kind of environment are either incredibly hateful assholes or people who really, honestly, don't see how this kind of thing adds up and can lead to a horrifying environment.
  For the ones who are hateful assholes, it's extremely unlikely that bothering to point it out will make them change. But for the ones who are just ignorant, it *can* be part of a compelling argument that gets them to change. Where the problem comes in here is that in and of itself, the "bigboobs" thing is not a compelling argument that sexism exists, and it absolutely should be put in a larger context if it gets mentioned.
  So, I think that bringing things like this - in aggregate, rather than as individual items - can be a good thing, but complaining about one specific instance that is this generally innocuous outside of any context that it comes off as one of those "first world problems" like "sometimes I only get 4 bars on my iPhone when I'm on the subway" to people who really don't understand the larger problem and how this kind of thing can lead to badness.
  
  --
  Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
5. Re:Sexism in tech by Lisias · 2012-07-19 09:43 · Score: 1
  
  +1 insightful please.
  One of the best comments I ever read.
  
  --
  Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
6. Re:Sexism in tech by thesandtiger · 2012-07-19 09:55 · Score: 1
  
  It really isn't so much that only white, christian, able body, hetero males are fair game, but rather that by and large, white, christian, able body, hetero males don't really run into constant problems because of their membership in those classes. Exceptions exist, but by and large, if you want to face a minimum of persecution in the US, being a white, christian, able body, hetero male is the way to go. (And I will pre-emptively say that any mens rights activist stuff will be ignored).
  Generally speaking, people in the majority class are treated by other members of that majority class as individuals. By this I mean that if two white dudes are talking to each other about something (call them Bill and Bob) they will tend to see the other person as simply representing their own individual behaviors and opinions, as opposed to the opinions and behaviors of all white dudes. This is because they are in the same classes, and see them selves as individuals, and thus don't pay attention to those 2 factors too much. But, when they are interacting with people from other classes, often people will assume that person represents ALL members of that class.
  This kind of thing happens also among minority classes - I don't, for example, think of another woman as representing all women since I see myself as an individual and can see her as an individual based on that class. But when I deal with guys, I will say that often times I have to catch myself from thinking that all guys are basically the same - it's unfair for me to do it, so I try like hell to overcome the impulse, and am usually successful.
  There's an XKCD about it - one is two dudes at a chalkboard and one makes a math error and is told "you're bad at math" while the other panel is a man and a woman at a chalkboard and the woman makes a math error and is told "women are bad at math." It's not quite that simple, but that's a fair explanation.
  Now, the reason it becomes a problem for minority classes to be made fun of and is seen as less of a problem for majority classes to be made fun of it because people in the majority classes, by and large, tend to not see another white, christian, able-bodied, hetero dude and say "Oh, man, I had a bad experience with a white, christian, able-bodied dude - they're all trouble!" and discriminate. But they *are* somewhat more prone, in general, to do that kind of discrimination based on class/category differences. And, because they are in the majority (either power or population wise), they can get away with it.
  Personally, i do think that there is a minimum level of piss taking that a person has to be able to deal with in any kind of team. People do make jokes, people tease, people are not always perfectly professional machines. A well adjusted person, should be able to, in the absence of other complicating factors, take a joke of the same level as "big boobs" and blow it off as immature. It's just a lot fucking harder to blow it off when you hear those kinds of things constantly and they have actually caused you personal problems as a result.
  At one place I worked as a project manager, one of the other project managers loved to describe certain people on our administrative staff as "ghetto" and "ghetto fabulous." The people she referred to in this fashion were all african american - I literally NEVER heard her use either of those terms to describe white people as ghetto/ghetto fabulous even when they absolutely would have fit those terms. This PM would make comments about how ridiculous their nails and hair were even when they were perfectly in line with our policy, would comment that they sure wear a lot of purple(?!) and bright colors, and so on.
  It got worse when, despite these admin people being perfectly good at their jobs and just as capable as anyone else in these roles, and just as professional (if not moreso because, due to casual discrimination they had to be to be seen as equally good), the PM would refuse to use them for client meetings because "they don't feel professional." That she
  
  --
  Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
7. Re:Sexism in tech by bill_mcgonigle · 2012-07-19 17:25 · Score: 1
  
  the incredibly fucking horrifying
  Would it be sexist of me to suggest that women should get a free pass on cold-cocking any idiot who say something like that? I mean, right in the cubicle, drooling on the keyboard, out cold.
  'Cause a small concussion is less offensive, in my opinion.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Microsoft will make it all better by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2012-07-19 08:07 · Score: 1

They're submitting a patch that changes it to '0x2B00B135'.

--
#DeleteChrome
Hyper PC (politically correct) by WaffleMonster · 2012-07-19 08:07 · Score: 1

Alright well I'm sure Peta takes "dead beef" just as seriously too so send in those patches.
That goes double for java and its sexist cafe babes.
Less people are willing to tolerate the actions and speech of others the closer society gets to the drain.
Re:Would there have been so much angst if it said. by Sponge+Bath · 2012-07-19 08:09 · Score: 1

B16D1CK5 ??
That would offend the Roman legate from The Life of Brian.
Microsoft Response by erdos-bacon+sandwich · 2012-07-19 08:10 · Score: 4, Funny

A spokesman for Microsoft has issued the following statement in response: "or vagina"
Not on x86 by Chemisor · 2012-07-19 08:11 · Score: 2

For some reason, this constant could only be seen by big endian users... Little endian users received "access denied" instead.
I think we can all agree ... by spidercoz · 2012-07-19 08:12 · Score: 2

that immature, sexist shit like this would stop if women just put out more.

--
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
Re:how's that sexist? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 08:13 · Score: 1

well yeah, why would women have man-tits?
Re:Would there have been so much angst if it said. by BMOC · 2012-07-19 08:13 · Score: 2

Ya, I fail. I was going to use a 3 for a K and failed to re-read :( Your joke was better.

--
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
bullshit by Mr_Nitro · 2012-07-19 08:17 · Score: 1

how this is going to create problems in the balance of things? who the fuck cares what someone writes in some code snippet? is it a big reason to get to the mainstream media? this is just utter crap. Turn on the tv, see someone having their brains exploded by a 'good' sniper, but wait...that's fine... wake fucking up gents.
Re:why is microsoft so awful? by SolitaryMan · 2012-07-19 08:17 · Score: 1

is it all the government contracts? or all the indians working there?
No, its stupid people posting stupid crap in public forums.

--
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Re:and the submitted patch changes the magic word by middlemen · 2012-07-19 08:18 · Score: 2

0x61660705
Or, an even more cleverly written "giggolos".
Why would you not use 9 instead of 6 ?
Re:Hypocrisy by spidercoz · 2012-07-19 08:18 · Score: 1

seriously... buncha (non)fucking puritans in this country

--
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
Hmm.. by neuro88 · 2012-07-19 08:18 · Score: 1

I don't think it's sexist per say, but I do agree it should be removed from the kernel as its immature and unprofessional.
1. Re:Hmm.. by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 14:33 · Score: 1
  
  To which the kernel responds "Fuck you."
  You think I jest, but read the comments. Microsoft's constant is more professional than half the code comments in that behemoth.
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
If I were Linus T. by instagib · 2012-07-19 08:19 · Score: 3, Informative

... I would kick Matthew G. out of kernel development for being a butthurt nitpicking lamer.
1. Re:If I were Linus T. by Tom · 2012-07-19 21:56 · Score: 1
  
  If Linus refuses the patch because it neither fixes a bug nor does it add functionality, would it be sexist to say he has balls?
  
  --
  Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Re:Big Boobs? by Existential+Wombat · 2012-07-19 08:20 · Score: 2

s/0xB16B00B5 /0xB167175/g ?
Re:and the submitted patch changes the magic word by mooingyak · 2012-07-19 08:21 · Score: 1

0x61660705
Or, an even more cleverly written "giggolos".
No one will ever spot it!
That one even works in hex, decimal, or octal.

--
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
Grow up by Murdoch5 · 2012-07-19 08:24 · Score: 1

That's not offensive, that's funny :-). If you didn't laugh then it either means your immature or over sensitive.
GPL Compliance by gman003 · 2012-07-19 08:26 · Score: 1

The real reason to complain is the rather obvious GPL violation going on. Microsoft needs release all big boobs under the GPL (or a compatible license) in order to avoid legal problems.
Your version would create much more angst by marcosdumay · 2012-07-19 08:26 · Score: 1

Your version would create much more angst, as the kernel wouldn't compile.

--
Rethinking email
the coder.. by MickyTheIdiot · 2012-07-19 08:27 · Score: 2

was on slashdot, saw the girl in the ad for "Roadkill T-Shirts," and accidentally did it subliminally. Nothing to see here... it's an accident.
Re:Would there have been so much angst if it said. by MiniMike · 2012-07-19 08:34 · Score: 1

B16D1CK5 ??
Then MS would've gotten grief for using an invalid hex value.
MS would've then pointed out that it is a completely valid MS-HEX value.
Seriously... by Brawlking · 2012-07-19 08:36 · Score: 1

Seriously... What an a-hole, I hope someone blows his website up for being a .
Re:Trap by HornWumpus · 2012-07-19 08:36 · Score: 1

You have insulted the honor of all women. We demand you tell us where all these slutty women are?

--
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
really? by hduff · 2012-07-19 08:41 · Score: 1

What about all the other, arguably more offensive comments in the kernel?
This is so stupid.

--
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
Wow BFD! by scharkalvin · 2012-07-19 08:46 · Score: 1

I've "spelled" stuff in hex constants many times, usually when I need a password I could remember (though not very secure I grant you).
Things like DEADF00D, B16DEA1, C01DBEEF, etc.....
There are also some numbers that can't be read as words until you hold them UPSIDE DOWN.
Let the geeks at M$ have their fun. I bet Linus has slipped in a few zingers himself. He's hardly the saint language wise!
'0xB16B00B5 is sexist, according to Aisaiso rules by Simonetta · 2012-07-19 08:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

According to the universal rules and guidelines set forth at the Aisaiso Women's Convention, any word, phrase, gesture, or implied version of the same can be construted to be a firing offense for any male in any job in any company, if any woman, anywhere, decides it to be 'sexist'. All she has to do is say that " it's sexist, because I say so..." and the man MUST be fired and his job be given to the woman as compensation for his crimes against humanity (women).
Show any woman who can explain to me in a five hundred words or less what exactly a 32-bit number is and what it is used for, and I will seriously consider her argument that use of the character string '0xB16B00B5' could be considered to somehow be offensive.
Until then, from one girl to another, 'Sister, sit down, and shut the fuck up...'
slow news day by markhahn · 2012-07-19 08:46 · Score: 1

this is such a non-event - so why would MSFT make a big deal out of it?
the only plausible explanation is that everyone has forgotten that MSFT contributed hyperv support at all...
Foserious??? by Chewbacon · 2012-07-19 08:52 · Score: 2

As a linux user, I'm offended this guy criticized them. I feel like he's speaking for me, perhaps the rest of us. For Christ's sake, boobs are what we feed our children with! Why is this sexist? Why does it matter? I think it's awesome, because I think boobies are awesome.

--
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
sexist? by aahpandasrun · 2012-07-19 08:53 · Score: 1

I don't want to live in a world where "big boobs" is a "sexist phrase"
big? by Quiet_Desperation · 2012-07-19 09:00 · Score: 1

I thought it was Ballmer's username or something.
Way Off Topic, But by Sentrion · 2012-07-19 09:00 · Score: 1

I know this is way off-topic, but the fact that Microsoft is developing products with Linux - shouldn't that in some way invalidate the claims that they have against Linux, making accusations that Linux is infringing on Microsoft patents? If I order food at a restaurant and the food is sub-par to my standards, and if I object and say that I am not paying for this sub-par food - if I go on to sit for another 15 minutes completely devouring the so-called "sub par" food and licking the plate, I could be expected to pay the full bill. If I refused to pay and the restaurant sued me, the fact that I ate the food anyway after I complained would be justification that my claims were invalid and the judge would order me to pay the meal ticket, plus the cost of court fees and plaintiff's legal expenses. Maybe even punitive damages to boot.
1. Re:Way Off Topic, But by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 14:38 · Score: 1
  
  Not really. That would only apply under GPL3 which requires a patent license grant (GPL2 does not). They could easily argue that they are contributing code for the benefit of licensed customers (SuSE for example). More likely, though, is also that the people in the server OS team don't give a flying fuck what Legal is doing - making Linux and Hyper-V work better together increases Windows Server uptake, which is all they care about.
  
  --
  For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Sexobsessed and boobish by Grudge2012 · 2012-07-19 09:05 · Score: 1

Kids these days - a "boob" is a fool. Might as well they were making fun of Linux coders - and hit a home run.
Saw headline and was going to jump hard on it. by Trax3001BBS · 2012-07-19 09:10 · Score: 1

Read the article and only hope Microsoft's apology was meant as
"Were sorry for your lack of humor and will change it."

FTA: "since the vast majority of grownups have come to recognize that this kind
of juvenile nonsense has no place in the business world."

I just have this to add: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/pages/bunny.html

From the collection of http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/creatures/index.html
1. Re:Saw headline and was going to jump hard on it. by bussdriver · 2012-07-19 09:50 · Score: 1
  
  Humanity has no place in the business world.
  I have yet to see any grownups; just children wearing masks.
  
  --
  Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Innocent Mnemonic and Easter Egg? by Brewster+Jennings · 2012-07-19 09:12 · Score: 2

I mean, hex strings are a pain in the ass to remember. You have to admit, it's pretty easy to remember 81680085 when you have "big boobs" as a memory aid.
1. Re:Innocent Mnemonic and Easter Egg? by Lisias · 2012-07-19 09:39 · Score: 1
  
  +1 informative. :-)
  
  --
  Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
Re:Trap by Noughmad · 2012-07-19 09:26 · Score: 1

1. In movies, especially music videos
2. In schools
3. ???
4. Profit!
Author's note: The fourth item is actually appropriate here, slutty women tend to concentrate around men who make or have made significant profit.

--
PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
Highlights the benefits of Open Source by jpvlsmv · 2012-07-19 09:28 · Score: 1

If this had happened inside a closed-source project, we never would have seen these 0xB16B00B5, so this is a good thing. Kidding aside, They might have been noticed in a hex dump by some hackers, but more likely it would have stayed an inside joke among the developer who put the value in, and the other 2 people he told.
But it happened in Linux. Somebody noticed it. And it was very quickly determined exactly WHERE the code had come from, WHO put it there, and WHEN. And it was removed quickly.
Next time a closed-source advocate mentions "you don't know where the open source code is written", point this out. You know more about who wrote this code than you possibly could about any closed-source.
Hmm, I wonder...
# grep \xB1\x6B\x00\xB5 windows.vhd
--Joe
Matthew Garrett by Lisias · 2012-07-19 09:38 · Score: 2

I don't know if this guy is the sexist, the homophobic or the heterophobic in this mess (Big Boobs is not a prerogative of only one gender nowadays).
WHY IN HELL a juvenile joke like this demands a public apology from Microsoft? GIT is your friend - patch the joke, communicate the author to do not do it again, and move on!
I'm no fan of Microsoft, but if I was in its shoes, I think this sounds more adequate : FUCK YOU, GARRET! _|_ . #onTheTorvaldsWay

--
Lisias@Earth.SolarSystem.OrionArm.MilkyWay.Local.Virgo.Universe.org
not sexist by Anonymous Coward · 2012-07-19 09:47 · Score: 1

It is not sexist period. "Big boobs" is not discriminatory or oppressive.
You're still not getting it, I have a right... by BMOC · 2012-07-19 09:54 · Score: 1

to be a jackass to you if I so choose. You cannot take that right away from me, it is inalienable. You can believe in not being a jackass all you want. That's fine, most people do. That fact doesn't change the fact that you cannot dictate the behavior of others simply because you are offended. Forcing a re-write and apology is imposing on someone, it's curtailing their freedom of expression through arbitrary standards of offense.

--
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
1. Re:You're still not getting it, I have a right... by Just+Some+Guy · 2012-07-19 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  That fact doesn't change the fact that you cannot dictate the behavior of others simply because you are offended.
  It seems the project manager at Microsoft did exactly that. Well, more specifically, they "dictated" it to avoid needlessly offended their users and contributors.
  
  Forcing a re-write and apology is imposing on someone, it's curtailing their freedom of expression through arbitrary standards of offense.
  What a fragile little ego you must have. A Linux developer asked Microsoft for a re-write and an apology, and being more adult about it than you seem to want to be, they cheerfully complied.
  
  --
  Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
2. Re:You're still not getting it, I have a right... by BMOC · 2012-07-19 11:01 · Score: 1
  
  Being an adult means having a sense of humor and moving on. Asking everyone around you to conform to your wishes, that's being childish. You will do well to learn this.
  
  --
  I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
3. Re:You're still not getting it, I have a right... by simm_s · 2012-07-20 01:04 · Score: 1
  
  Well no you don't have the right in all cases! I am sure the employee at Microsoft signed an agreement that he would follow certain guidelines, so no he did not have the right to do this on behalf of Microsoft. Linus also has the right to accept, correct, or reject code that he does not like in his tree. You have the right to be a jackass (at least in the US) but we don't have to give you a platform.
Male guilt by ElusiveJoe · 2012-07-19 09:54 · Score: 1

Paraphrasing a famous Russian saying: how come there are boobs, but there is no name for them? Being ashamed of words is a mental issue. Having a "male guilt" or "white guilt" is a mental issue, too. No one was offended here, being a "white knight" for no reason is shameful.
1. Re:Male guilt by KingSkippus · 2012-07-19 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  I guess it never occurred to you that some of us have mothers, sisters, and wives that have had to endure the indignity of this shit, did it? That maybe it made an indelible impression on us that, "Hey, this isn't right, and I'll call out this jackass behavior when I see it"?
  Nah, didn't think so.
  It's not guilt, it's anger, you idiot. It's the same reason I call out people for making fun of gay people, or for that matter, making fun of men. Or computer geeks. Or whatever. It doesn't matter. There's no excuse for being a prick to your fellow humans.
  If you can't recognize the difference between good-natured fun and being an insensitive clod, then that's your sad, pathetic state of affairs. But don't go blaming it on the victim ("Oh, she's to sensitive to those sexually hostile remarks!") or someone, whether male, female, or androgynous Martian, defending a gender from unwarranted idiocy.
2. Re:Male guilt by cheekyjohnson · 2012-07-19 14:42 · Score: 1
  
  Your comment was quite hostile and demonstrates your immense insensitivity!
  
  But don't go blaming it on the victim
  Your comment was very offensive to me. In fact, all of your comments are, and I deem them to have no value (and my opinion reigns supreme). Can you please refrain from commenting ever again? If you don't, you'll be insensitive. Don't go blaming the victim, either.
  Sorry, but sometimes you just have to let all of your actions be controlled by another person's feelings; fun isn't allowed.
  
  --
  Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
3. Re:Male guilt by ElusiveJoe · 2012-07-19 21:25 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not offended if someone says "boobs" or "penis". Because I'm not an idiot like you.
Kudos to MS by bedouin · 2012-07-19 10:00 · Score: 1

For showing you have a sense of humor.
OMFG: Microsoft controls the kernel .... by OldHawk777 · 2012-07-19 10:23 · Score: 1

The end of all technology looms before US & EU. WTF are we to dodo now? You just cain't trust Microsoft anymore. What is the world coming tooooo?

--
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
Slang potential by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-07-19 10:24 · Score: 1

Bob: "Did you see the new HR rep?"
Bill: "Oh yeah! She's 2,976,579,765!"

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I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
They broke binary compatibility by dskoll · 2012-07-19 10:27 · Score: 2

Instead of:
#define MAGIC 0xB16B00B5
Why not just change it to:
#define MAGIC 2976579765
That will maintain binary compatibility!
Who let MS submit commits anyway by davydagger · 2012-07-19 10:47 · Score: 1

Does anyone else see letting microsoft, sworn enemy of all things linux, contribute to the kernel?

Seriously!
1. Re:Who let MS submit commits anyway by Errtu76 · 2012-07-20 00:06 · Score: 1
  
  Some dude called L. Torvalds let that through IIRC. He's probably new, cut him some slack.
Double-standard by phorm · 2012-07-19 10:57 · Score: 1

There often seems to be a double-standard for some of this type of thing. Where I used to work, some of the same people who would have been annoyed by this and run to HR were the same people who often told "useless man" jokes. If one thinks that men aren't regularly denigrated (at least by the standards of this article) in the workplace, you're sadly mistaken. A joke I once heard. In the beginning, it tends to leave "righteous types" looking very offended:
35% of women worry that their @ss is too big
25% of women worry that their @ss is too small
40% say that he's a good provider and love him just the way he is
By the end, they laugh and find it funny. Why is that?
As many people say "I'd hate for my daughter to be exposed to [behavior X]..."
So would I.I would have for my daughter be skipped for a promotion, have her ideas dismissed as less significant, or otherwise have her future harmed in any way according to her gender. On the other hand, I'll also teach her the difference between a silly joke, deliberate vindictiveness, and damaging discriminate behaviour. Most women I know would recognise that this joke doesn't show hostility to women at all, but rather that - as another bloke aptly put it already - this guy probably still chuckles at the phrases he can write by turning his calculator upside down. Silly, mildly immature, but hardly the cause for great uproar.
There is very little in this world that can be funny without potentially offending somebody. I hope that your children grow up to an world where they can still laugh and have a little fun (even immature fun sometimes), while not suffering because some dumb sod did something truly hurtfully discriminatory. I hope your children find success in their lives, but not at the expense of laughter and happiness.
Re:Would there have been so much angst if it said. by serviscope_minor · 2012-07-19 11:12 · Score: 1

I'm honestly curious how your thought process took you from:
Someone writes "big boobs" into the kernel , and which apparently is generally considered to be rather unprofessional and mildly mysoginistic...
to this:
Remember Men, it's o.k. if any part of your body gets represented as just a meaningless object used by the opposite sex in graphic novels, movies, or live performances.

--
SJW n. One who posts facts.
this coming from the 'or vagina' company... by Nyder · 2012-07-19 11:24 · Score: 1

Seems to me MS is on a roll...

--
Be seeing you...
Totally fair charge. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2012-07-19 11:49 · Score: 1

It was just microsoft's signature, identifying who they are. Why is it considered sexist I can't understand.

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sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Re:and the submitted patch changes the magic word by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 12:38 · Score: 1

Because 9 cannot fit into a 32-bit dword?

--
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
How is this news? by voridor · 2012-07-19 13:38 · Score: 1

All developers have put crude comments in their code at some point, besides, maybe the Linux Kernel has a thing for big boobs.
Re:Big Boobs? by SpelledBackwards · 2012-07-19 13:41 · Score: 1

But AC/DC wasn't being sexist at all about big balls. Just read the lyrics:

And he's got big balls / And she's got big balls / (But we've got the biggest balls of them all)
Boob != Breast by sethmeisterg · 2012-07-19 14:01 · Score: 1

Seriously -- maybe they were joking that Linux is developed by big boobs (i.e. foolish or stupid people). There are multiple definitions for boob!
Duke Fame, not Derek Smalls. by reluctantjoiner · 2012-07-19 14:06 · Score: 1

Derek Smalls is Spinal Tap's bass player.

I'm rather surprised I had to scroll down this far before encountering this Tap reference.

--
Plan My Week for iPhone
Re:Completely out of context by b4dc0d3r · 2012-07-19 14:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think you accidentally got to the real heart of the issue. Microsoft has to keep up appearances, as an established corporation. But this code was not written in the open source world, not for Linux, and not intended to be distributed at all. It was supposed to be hidden in the basement.
Microsoft was forced to release this code because they released binaries built with GPL components. Those binaries were to make Linux work well with Microsoft's hypervisor. Not to make Linux look good, but to make virtual Linux useable enough that they keep paying for a Windows host license (on the next server, or OS upgrade).
This magic number is a guest OS ID definition for Microsoft's Hyper-V. As far as anyone knows, this might be a magic value already in place in some of Microsoft's code, and they had to use the same value in the Linux implementation. If that's not the case, it's still internal code that they had no intention of releasing as source.
My guess is that someone who doesn't respect Linux intentionally violated the identity convention. In that case, it's not about sexism at all. Substituting a childish phrase for an operating system ID is about respect for the product, and little if anything to do with respect for women. If a woman wants to see it as offensive that is perfectly valid. But from what I can tell not the intent at all.
The "predictable debate over sexism in the technology world" is being driven by people who take things out of context for the increased page loads. It could very well be told as "Source code divulged after GPL violation reveals Microsoft employs at least one immature developer." But the focus on sexism almost makes the ads click themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel#Hyper-V_submission_by_Microsoft
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff542653(v=vs.85).aspx
Re:The value wasn't meant to be sexist... by Kalriath · 2012-07-19 14:32 · Score: 1

Then Embarcadero bought the Borland code tools business, and took a dump ten times bigger on the Borland developers than Microsoft ever could have.
"Beat the price rise! Buy today!" (In case you haven't noticed, Embarcadero racks up the prices annually).

--
For a site about things like basic rights, Slashdot users sure do like to censor "dissent".
Humor by N3tRunner · 2012-07-19 14:34 · Score: 2

I think it's a shame that on this rare occasion when Microsoft displays a sense of humor they get punished for it.
1. Re:Humor by Errtu76 · 2012-07-20 00:05 · Score: 1
  
  Exactly. Just leave the stupid code in or make it something like B166357B00B135
2. Re:Humor by allo · 2012-07-20 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  yeah, what a prude bullshit.
Sex Sells by Zamphatta · 2012-07-19 14:52 · Score: 1

See, that's why everybody buys Microsoft products... it's all about the big boobs.
Re:Eh? by thoughtspace · 2012-07-19 14:52 · Score: 1

No, that's 0xB16B0770M5
Harmless but counterproductive by PeterWone · 2012-07-19 15:29 · Score: 1

I would object to a method name like that not because it's offensive but because it's badly named. Unless you're rendering porn it is a dismal choice of name, completely unhelpful. As a magic number in a constant it would be infantile but harmless.
1. Re:Harmless but counterproductive by i286NiNJA · 2012-07-20 14:00 · Score: 1
  
  Yes I agree name things based on what they do don't make life hard on someone else just for some childish laughs
  Maybe in some situation it would be a good colorful metaphor for some action but I can't think of anything.. maybe DoS proof of concept or something.
  heh butthead I said hard on..
  huh huh it's an injector.. a code injector.
Also seen elsewhere by FrankDrebin · 2012-07-19 15:30 · Score: 1
- 0xB00B1E5
- 0xBEDABABE
--
Anybody want a peanut?
Enough. Just... enough with the whining. by binary+paladin · 2012-07-19 16:01 · Score: 2

This is hilarious.
1. I work in software development. Boobs are in no way limited to females. In fact, I probably see more man boobs on a daily basis than I do woman boobs.
2. If you can't take a joke that was in no way written to be mean, intimidating, sexist or hurtful... fuck you you fucking whiner.
I have to hear from "progressives" about the evils of religion "sanitizing" people's thoughts and minds. Is this kind of crap any different. Grow a spine. There's a HUGE difference between juvenile and hateful and if you can't tell the difference, you're just plain irritating.
1. Re:Enough. Just... enough with the whining. by Errtu76 · 2012-07-20 00:02 · Score: 1
  
  I probably see more man boobs on a daily basis than I do woman boobs.
  You really need to get out more often ;)
I was thinking Stallman by LostMyBeaver · 2012-07-19 17:03 · Score: 1

Pretty sure his boobs are quite huge... don't want to look though.
I disagree completely by LostMyBeaver · 2012-07-19 17:17 · Score: 1

If you are the type of person that would find this type of thing uncomfortable to begin with, you are exactly the type of person who wouldn't function well in a kernel development environment. I know quite a few female programmers and the best of them are generally busting out as many dumb assed wise cracks as the guys... often more.

This is an excellent example of why there are a ton of women out there who have superior rights (better than equal) including pay checks to match and there are even more which sit around bitching about why men have everything. Some women think men are saying "Their tiny little brains" where in reality, if you're actually a good programmer, it doesn't matter if you're white, black, guy, gal, gay, straight, in a wheelchair or hunchbacked... on the first few days, you might be seen by some idiots as "oh... a girl...", but I wouldn't work with those people, I don't know why you would. But if you actually are a good programmer and are willing to smack people around (the way we do each other), then you'll be fine.

Personally, when I was at my last job and I found out that there was going to be an attractive woman sitting next to me, I saw her and then heard "This is... she has a Ph.D. in digital signal processing" at which point in time I got REALLY excited. I think I spent the next year leeching her brain dry about everything she knew about digital signal processing... we still eat lunch together sometimes even though we both left that company. We have a lot to teach each other. And I can promise you, if we drew a naked girl using ASCII art in the comments of the code, she'd probably put a tattoo on the picture or add a comment like "Closest thing any of these guys will get to seeing a naked woman".

I have to give the guy who added that credit since I was growing tired of 0xdeadbeef, I think 0xb16b00b5 was pretty creative.. though he probably stole it from someone else.
Re:Completely out of context by Pieroxy · 2012-07-19 17:21 · Score: 1

If a woman wants to see it as offensive that is perfectly valid. But from what I can tell not the intent at all.
I don't think anyone is questioning the intent here, just the sheer stupidity of the constant. You do not need to mean harm to inflict it. But you need to care about the others to be careful not to inflict harm. Stupidity is not a valid excuse.
Of course, this constant is mildly annoying, it could be a lot worse.

--
Write boring code, not shiny code!
Re:Would there have been so much angst if it said. by BMOC · 2012-07-19 17:21 · Score: 1

Why be offended at a two word phrase of a body part unless sexually objectifying that part offends you? Is there another reason I'm not aware of?

--
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
Not sexist. Worse. by TBBle · 2012-07-19 17:32 · Score: 1

It's not sexist. It's not discriminating against a particular sex. It's creating an uncomfortable and exclusive environment to the detriment of those of any gender who feel that references to "big boobs" are unprofessional or inappropriate appearing in code like that.
If you did it in in a work environment, it'd be harassment.
It's really more insidious than sexism. It's easy to spot sexism, but trying to explain the ways in which this example is a bad thing will inevitably produce responses of "you're over-sensitive" from people who are not offended by it.
By calling it merely "sexist", it automatically excludes from the discussion any _males_ who find it offensive, as they must be obviously offended on some woman's behalf, not because they find it offensive themselves, and are therefore not vested in the results. (And may well be derided as taking that position merely to get into said woman's pants, which is another great example of things that are not sexist but are still incredibly bad behaviour in a professional environment.)

--
Paul "TBBle" Hampson
Paul.Hampson@Pobox.Com
It's just because Microsoft did it by Sycraft-fu · 2012-07-19 20:37 · Score: 1

As another poster accurately pointed out, had said Linux blogger come across something like this put in by some random Linux kernel contributor they would have laughed about it and moved on. A tempest in a teapot is being made about this because MS is involved and plenty of Linux heads hate MS and want to make them look bad.
People will play the discrimination/hurts feelings card over minor things when they are trying to achieve some other ends, not because they are really offended. An example:
One of the advisers at work feels she should have a lot of input on how the website is designed. Problem is everyone has an opinion on websites, and they are all different. As such only the department head has a say. She bugged the web guy with suggestions which he ignored. So she decided to cause trouble. On one page, he needed a reasonably tall vertical image for aesthetics. So he went and snapped a picture of our building. On the outside we have some large half-cylinders that run from the ground floor to the top, just for looks (there isn't anything behind them). I won't call them pretty but they are unique so he used one of those.
Well she complained to the powers that be that it looked like a penis and was as such offensive. No way, no how. It's only (very distant) relation to a phallus at all is that they are both based on the same fundamental geometric shape: a cylinder. As I said is a half cylinder, it is gray, it isn't tapered or anything, and so on. What's more, you have to walk past these to get in to the building every day so if they were "offensive" just working there would be an issue.
She wasn't really offended, it was just her way of trying to force people to listen to her. Worked too, rather than smack her down the powers that be said "Just remove the picture and put something else there."
Same shit here. It is just because people want to make MS look bad, not because this is really sexism. In any other context they'd either roll their eyes and say "That's juvenile," or snicker, because they enjoy juvenile humour, and move on. However they see this as a chance to make MS look bad and so are blowing it up, and Slashdot it helping.
Re:Eh? by gwjgwj · 2012-07-19 21:25 · Score: 1

Information Society Technologies?
What? by lennier1 · 2012-07-19 21:41 · Score: 1

All this ruckus over some juvenile joke?
grow up by Tom · 2012-07-19 21:51 · Score: 1

Seriously, grow up. If you think this is worth a patch, you're retarded. Yeah, it's a bit childish, but it harms nobody, because everyone who feels offended by this already has issues far, far worse.
What ever came of tolerance? You know, the word that once applied to more than just minorities and people who make a living whining for whatever pet issue?

--
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Easter eggs are common in tech by cpghost · 2012-07-19 22:11 · Score: 1

This is just a funny little and harmless joke. Actually, Easter eggs are quite common in IT. Let's take the playboy bunny etched in silicone as an example. That's less hazardous to health than silicone implanted within a playboy bunny, isn't it? But I guess the former is more objectionable to some puritans and people without any sense of humor than the latter.

--
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
Weird by galanom · 2012-07-19 22:39 · Score: 1

All this, when I search for "big boobs" on YouPorn, they turn to be female. Pure luck, right? :P
Nothing new by Errtu76 · 2012-07-20 00:02 · Score: 1

There were a lot of f*ck and sh!t references in the kernel code not too long ago. A lot of them directed at Sun (engineers) too.
Amateur by netwarerip · 2012-07-20 04:52 · Score: 1

Back in the early Netware days I had to assing IPX addys to all my servers.
B16B00B5
BABEFACE
000BABEE
B00B7355
4B00B1E5
were just a few that I used, can't remember the rest.

We had Motorola FRADs for network connectivity (don't ask) and needed help from Motorola on filtering, so it was pretty funny when their engineer first got a look at the traffic. He didn't seem to mind.
I blame Mike Judge by Dave+Emami · 2012-07-20 05:10 · Score: 1

Apparently Beavis and Butthead have somehow learned to code, and they're working at Microsoft.
"Huhhuh, huhhuh. Check it out, Beavis: 0xB16B00B5."
"Heheheheh. Uhh... I don't get it."
"It says 'big boobs', dumbass!"
"Oh yeah. Heheheheh. That's pretty cool. Heheheh! Boobs rule!"
"Boobs kick ass."
"Heheheheh! You said 'ass.'"
"Whoa! Windows 7 is a chick!"
"Maybe we can score!"
"Huhuhuh. Bathe her, and bring her to me. Huhuhuhuh."

--

"The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
I love Microshaft by John+Holmes · 2012-07-20 05:27 · Score: 1

Why are they allowed to look at a Linux kernel?
not sexist by spongman · 2012-07-20 05:35 · Score: 1

how is this sexist? 0xB16B00B5 is clearly an homage to Microsoft's CEO.
Ridiculous! by doccus · 2012-07-20 05:39 · Score: 1

OK this is officially the most stupid thing i have read today for sure.. Political correctness has surely crossed over into the twilite zone.. How is "big boobs" any more "sexist" than "long legs" , or "gams" as they used to say in the '40s.. I wish MS would have just stood their ground and said enough is enough.. And a Patch? Really? is this intended to no longer offend any decompilers or crackers who may be "offended" ?
Microsoft code by Clopnixus · 2012-07-20 06:00 · Score: 1

This only got discovered because its open source. Now, I realise why closed sauce Microsoft code is so bloated and cruddy. Its chock full of sexual references...
Re:Completely out of context by Alsee · 2012-07-20 06:34 · Score: 2

It was supposed to be hidden in the basement.
Which explains how a Linux programmer found it.
-

--
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
crybaby by sylvandb · 2012-07-21 04:03 · Score: 1

I find this whole reaction quite ironic, given the phrase "big boobs" is synonymous with "big crybabies".
Maybe not by mike3k · 2012-07-23 11:52 · Score: 1

It could be referring to Steve Ballmer.
For The Love Of God! by s1sfx · 2012-07-27 01:09 · Score: 1

Oh man I'm so disappointed! I was looking forward to at least a full scene from 50 Shades of Grey. Total f*****g humour failure or what? If there was a lot more interesting stuff hidden in source code, perhaps more youngsters would be inspired to learn it.

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Love without logic is insanity. And vice versa.